
if 



STORY OF AN 
OLD TOWN 



With Reminiscences of Early Nebraska, and 
Biograk.phies of Pioneers. 



-BY- 

A. P. DeMILT 



A Narrative of Truth Describing tKe Birth of Nebraska, and 

Its Progress, of Its Oldest Towns, and 

Its First Settlers. 



published by 

Douglas Printing Company 

omaha, nebraska 

1903 



■VzUz 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in tlie year 190:2, 

by A. P. DeMllt. in the office of the Librarian 

of Congress, at Wasliington. 

All Rights Reserved. 



an 




A. P. DeMilt, Author. 



INTRODUCTION. 



This work as now presented to the public has been 
arduous and painstaking, its object being to array a set 
of facts without deviation from the truth, portraying a 
part of the early history of Nebraska and its inhab- 
itants. 

The task has been laborious as well as tedious, com- 
manding the most minute research and consuming 
many years. To Robert W. Furnas, Geo. W. Doane, 
Capt. Silas T. Learning, Henry Fontenelle, A. B. Ful- 
ler. Christopher C. Dunn, Dr. J. B. Whittier, John 
Lewis, James Ashley, and a host of others, the author 
is deeply indebted for the valuable assistance rendered. 
Without their co-operation the work would have been 
impossible. Entering Nebraska as a vast wilderness 
we leave it as one of the prosperous states of the union; 
certainly a most wonderful transformation. In pictur- 
ing this great change we not only present general char- 
acteristics but personal, thereby making it of interest 
to the individual as well as the public. The author is 
positive in his statement that within this book historical 
events will be found of our state that no other book of 
like kind contains. In fact on this point he has been 



exceeding-ly cautious; an avoidance of repetition. In 
the presentment of dates, they have not been used 
unless verified; and his greatest enjoyment to record 
something- which other writers have left undone or 
overlooked. This work is not copious nor complete, 
but what has been said, is simple, truthful and in- 
structive, and upon perusal the readers will have at 
their "tongue's end" a graphic and concise history of 
the state. No embellishments have been attempted, and 
all events treated abruptly, keeping but one vital point 
in constant view — the truth. Hoping the work will 
meet with the approval of the public and earn for itself 
at least a little merit, the author humbly signs himself 
Your servant, A. P. De Milt. 



STORY OF AN OLD 
TOWN, 

CHAPTER I. 

LEWIS AND CLARK THE COUNCIL BLUFFS DEATH OF 

BLACKBIRD AND HIS BURIAL WOODS THE FIRST SET- 
TLER TREATY OF OMAHA INDIANS ARTICLES OF 

AGREEMENT REMOVAL TO THEIR PRESENT HOME. 

The settlement of Nebraska begins with the expedi- 
tion of Lewis and Clark; Captain Meriwether Lewis 
of the United States army, and Captain William Clark, 
appointed by President Thomas Jefferson in 1803 to 
navigate the Ohio and Missouri rivers, determine the 
typography of the then unknown west, and make over- 
tures of peace with hostile Indians. The first notable 
pause that would be of any direct interest to the reader 
as a Nebraskan, l)y these famous explorers, was at 
Council Bluffs, so called, for the reason ti treaty of 
peace was ratified by them and a tribe of Indians, upon 



8 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

these hills in 1804. Prior to the arrival of Lewis and 
Clark, it was an Indian village; in 18 19, Fort Atkin- 
son, a military post, was established here; and now 
known as the village of Fort Calhoun. 

Their next stop, which was in the summer of the 
same year, was at the tomb of Blackbird, a huge mound 
of dirt, on a high bluff, overlooking the river, ten miles 
north from the townsite of Decatur, at the mouth of 
the creek which bears his name. Lewis and Clark state 
in their diary, they planted a small American flag on 
top of Blackbird's grave. This chief was the leader 
at that time of the powerful Me-ha tribe, better known 
now as the Omahas. Blackbird died in a smallpox 
epidemic in 1800, not far from where he was buried. 
Tradition tells, it was by his own request the remains 
were interred on the hill. The chief on his death-bed 
instructed his people to this effect : "The white man 
is my friend; therefore let my spirit rest in peace on 
the highest hill of the Missouri river, so that as they 
pass, up and down. I may see them, and greet them 
with pleasant smiles, and welcome them to my chil- 
dren, and my land of beautiful forests and prairies; 
of peace and plenty." 

Blackbird was a smart, sagacious chief, both feared 
and loved by his people. He was a powerful factor 
in establishing peace between the white man and the 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 9 

Indian. A commission as chief of the Me-has was 
presented to Wa-shing-a-sar-be, by "El Baron de 
Carondalet," at the City of New Orleans, May, 1796; 
the Indian title translated into English meaning Black 
Bird. 

The great chief's affection for his pale face brother 
was almost childlike, and his fondness for little 
nic-nacs. and sweetmeats, a weakness. 

By some writers Blackbird is recorded as sanguine, 
treacherous and crafty; a man who performed acts of 
goodness for an e\'il purpose. Others parade him as 
a sachem worthy of respect, a prototype of the ideal 
North American Indian, whose moral strength and 
natural love of humankind disseminated among the 
people of his tribe and their associates, the white man 
and the Indian, the bond of peace and the seeds of 
mutual companionship. 

^^'hatever the unwritten pages of the man's soul 
may be, this fact cannot be disputed even by the foolish 
skeptic and illiterate prejudiced. Like Washington, 
he was for harmony and peace, a virtue within itself; 
and strove for the union of co-operation between his 
people and the United States Government, a noble 
cause in which he w^as eminently successful. 

Tradition tells it, handed down by the lips of western 
pioneers, that he learned the art of using strychnine 



lO STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

from a post teacher, and in this manner, exterminated 
his antagonistic sub-alternates of the tribe. Wa-shina- 
a-sar-be was mysterious. He would go forth in the 
morning, with the rising of the sun, so the fable runs, 
and instruct the Wa-kar-me, med'cine man, to announce 
among the tents of the people, in a loud voice, proclaim- 
ing that a certain warrior would die, upon a fixed day 
and time, because the Great Father had demanded his 
presence in Spiritland. The doomed man invariably 
died, and the literal cause of the death would never 
be known beyond the fact, that it was so ordained by 
Blackbird, and the spirit of the condemned had been 
called away by God. 

In the month of August, 1896, the writer visited the 
grave of Blackbird, in company with F. W. Parker 
and Chas. S. Huntington of Omaha, Marshal Hamil- 
ton of Florence, and Henry Fontenelle of Decatur. 
There was not a vestige left of this huge mound, which 
was at the time of his burial about 45 feet high and 
30 feet in circumference. Time and rains have worn 
it away, and the pomp and ostentation of man, in his 
obsequies of the dead, displayed by earnest zeal and 
touching pathos, one hundred years ago, is now an 
incident of the past. All traces of the mound are gone, 
and those not familiar with the location of the grave, 
and the corroborating- evidence of the Indians, it would 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. II 

be difficult for them to identify or designate the spot. 
The slightest indication of a disturbance of the sur- 
roundings has been erased by the powerful and beau- 
tiful laws of Nature. Again the wild oat grasses wave 
in graceful accents to summer breezes, and here and 
there on little knolls and small patches of table land, 
flourish a labyrinth of native fragrant flowers. A 
single oak tree about twenty feet high, the trunk about 
eight inches in diameter, and about fifty years old, 
stands to the north of the grave, perhaps a distance 
of fifty yards. A few molar teeth and some pieces of 
bone were picked up upon the point which Mr. Fonte- 
nelle located as the grave of Blackbird, and Mr. Parker, 
who is a student of archaeolog>;, declared them to he 
human. 

The interment of Blackbird included much show of 
pageantry. He was buried in a sitting position, facing 
the river, and his horse, a splendid animal, was entom- 
ed alive with his master. A full membership of the tribe 
was present, their bodies decorated with bright colors 
of paint, gaudy feathers, buckskin clothing, inlaid with 
fancy bead work. Their holy man pronounced the bene- 
dictions for the repose and the safe guidance of the soul 
to the Spiritland. A symposium, consisting of wild 
animal meats, a native root tea, soups, and a bread 
made of corn; war, bear, scalp, medicine, buffalo, and 



12 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

woman dances ; horse and foot races of long and short 
distances; lasting five days, was participated in by the 
tribe. Many valuable presents and the chattels of the 
dead man, were given away to the poor, best dancers 
for endurance and grace, and winners of the races. 
At night, relatives, friends and the medicine man would 
gather around the grave, and sing the Indian death 
chant and wail, continuing until morning. In addition 
to this, each night, for successive five nights, a fire was 
built upon the mound to light the way of the soul to 
the Spiritland, and a quantity of food deposited as 
nourishment, for the progress and determination of 

the journey. 

^ -^ -^ 

The first involuntary permanent settlement by a 
white man, within the present corporate limits of De- 
catur, w-as Woods, in the year of 1837, at the mouth of 
Wood Creek, named after him. He came up along the 
river, from an extreme southern settlement, with a 
party of explorers. He took sick and died here, and 
was buried on the hill back of Henry Fontenelle's 
house. The next invasion, so to speak, of any impor- 
tance, by the paleface, was in the spring of 1853, by 
Col. Peter A. Sarpy and Clement Lambert of Bellevue. 
At that time they were in the employment of the Amer- 
ican Fur Company. Their camp was at the mouth of 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. I3 

Wood Creek, and they came up to meet a band of In- 
dians who were coming in from a buffalo and deer 
hunt, and bartered with them for their furs. 

* * * 

It was in the month of September of this same year, 
by the United States Commissioner of Indian Affairs 
Geo. W. Manypenny, that he visited the Omahas to 
negotiate for the purchase of their vast territory. The 
overtures of the government's representatives were 
listened to with favor, and for the purpose of con- 
ferring with the President of the United States, at 
\\^ashington, under the direction of Major Gatewood, 
agent for the Omahas, another general meeting of the 
tribe was held, and a council of chiefs were selected, 
Logan Fontenelle, principal chief and spokesman; the 
purpose for the arrangement and ratifying of a treaty 
which should be satisfactory to the Indians. The con- 
ference, President Pierce upon the part of the govern- 
ment, and Logan Fontenelle and sub-chiefs, upni the 
part of the Omaha tribe, met at the Capitol, Wash- 
ington, D. C, on March i6, 1854, for final consumma- 
tion. The Omahas reserved as a home 300,000 acres, 
where they now live, and took possession during the 
summer of 1854. 

With the exception of a few minor details, follow- 
ing is a truthful copy of the treaty and articles of 



14 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

agreement, comprising the consideration of the United 
States Government, and upon the part of the Omaha 
Indian tribe : 

Treaty between the Omaha Indians and the United 
States Government, executed on the 21st day of June. 
1854, and signed by FrankHn Pierce. President, and 
W. L. Marcy, Secretary of State : 

Whereby the Omaha Indians rehnquish ah rights 
to their large territory in favor of the government, 
reserving a tract of land, 300,000 acres, where they 
now live, as their future home. Consideration : To 
pay annually to tribe $42,000, for three years, com- 
mencing Jan. I, 1855. To pay $30,000 per annum, 
for term of ten years, next succeeding three years. To 
pay $20,000 per annum, for the term of fifteen years, 
next succeeding ten years. To pay $10,000 per annum 
for the term of twelve years, next succeeding fifteen 
years. 

The Omaha Indians to cede to the United States all 
lands west of the Missouri river, and south of a line 
drawn due west from a point in the center of the main 
channel of said Missouri river, due east of where the 
Ayoway river disembogues out of the bluffs to the 
western part of the Omaha country, and forever re- 
linquish all rights and title to the country south of 
said land. 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 1 5 

The Omahas relinquish all claims for money or 
other thing, under former treaties, and likewise all 
claims which they may have heretofore at any time 
up to land on the east side of Missouri River. Pro- 
vided, the Omahas shall be entitled to and receive from 
the government the unpaid balance of the $25,000 ap- 
propriated for their use by act of August 30, 185 1. 

The Omahas agi-ee, so soon after the United States 
shall have complied with the necessary provision for 
the fulfilling of this instrument, they will vacate the 
ceded country, and remove to lands reserved for them. 

The within named moneys are to be paid to the 
Omahas. or expended for their use and benefit, under 
the direction of the President of the United States, 
and for such beneficial objects as in his judgment will 
be. calculated to advance them in moral laws, educa- 
tion, and civilization; also for buildings, opening 
farms, breaking land, providing stock,, agricultural im- 
plements, seeds, etc.. provisions, clothing, and mer- 
chandise, iron, steel, arms and ammunition, mechanics 
and tools, and for medical purposes. 

That the sum of $41,000 to be paid out and expended 
under the direction of the President, and in such man- 
ner as he shall approve, for the removal of the Omahas" 
to their new home, subsistance for one year, and the 
expenses of the delegation, who may be appointed to 



1 6 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

make the exploration, and for the fencing and break- 
ing up of 200 acres of land at their new home, and for 
the settlement of the affairs. And when the Indians 
in council have expressed themselves satisfied then it 
shall be deemed and taken for their new home, but if 
otherwise, the President is to cause a new location. 

The President may from time to time at his discre- 
tion, cause the whole or such portion of the land hereby 
reserved, as he may think proper, or of such land as 
may be selected, in lieu thereof, as provided, to be sur- 
veyed into lots, and to assign to such Indian or Indians 
of said tribe as are willing to avail themselves of the 
privilege, and who will locate on the same as a perma- 
nent home: Single person, one-eighth of a sp^icn; 
family of two, one-quarter section; family of six, and 
not exceeding ten, one-quarter section for every addi- 
tional five members; and the President may at his dis- 
cretion issue a patent to such persons or families, and 
shall be exempt from levy, sale or forfeiture, which 
shall continue in force until a state constitution em- 
bracing such lands in the boundary shall have been 
formed and the legislature of the state shall remove the 
restrictions; said restrictions by the state not to be 
removed without the consent of Congress. 

Should the Omahas determine to make this new ter- 
ritory their new home, the United States agrees to 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. I7 

erect for the Omahas at their new home, a grist and 
saw mill, and keep the same in repair, and provide a 
miller for ten years; also to erect a good blacksmith- 
shop, supply the same with tools and keep it in repair 
ten years, and provide a blacksmith for a like period; 
and an experienced farmer for the term of ten years, to 
instruct the Indians in agriculture. 

The annuities of the Indians shall not be taken to 
\)ay the debts of individuals. 

The Omahas acknowledge their dependence on the 
government of the United States and promise to be 
friendly with all the citizens thereof, and pledge them- 
selves to commit no depredations on the property of 
such citizens. Should this pledge be violated, and the 
fact satisfactorily proven before the agent, the prop- 
erty taken shall be returned, or in default thereof, or 
if injured or destroyed, compensation may be made 
by the government out of their annuities. Nor will 
they make war on other tribes, except in self-defense; 
but will submit matters of difference between them and 
other Indians, to the government, or its agent, for de- 
cision, and abide thereby. 

The Omahas acknowledge themselves indebted to 
Lewis Saunsico (a half-breed) for services, the sum 
of $1,000, which they have not been able to pay, and 
the United States agrees to pay the same. 



l8 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

The Omahas are desirous to exclude the use of 
ardent spirits from their country, and to prevent their 
people from drinking the same, and therefore it is pro- 
vided that any Omaha who is guilty of bringing liquor 
into their country, or drinks liquor, may have his or 
her proportion of the annuities withheld from him or 
her for such time as the President may determine. 

The Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian 
Church has on the lands of the Omahas, a manual labor 
boarding school for the education of the Omaha and 
Ottoe and other Indian youth, which is now in suc- 
cessful operation, and as it will be some time before 
the necessary buildings can be erected on the reserva- 
tion, and desirous that the school should not be sus- 
pended, it is agreed that the said board shall have four 
adjoining quarter sections of land, so as to include as 
near as may be all the improvements heretofore made 
by them; and — the President is authorized to issue 
to proper authorities of said board a patent in fee 
simple for such quarter sections. 

The Omahas agree that all the necessary roads, high- 
ways, and railroads, which may be constructed as their 
country improves, and the lines of which may run 
through such tract, as may be reserved for their perma- 
nent home, shall have a right-of-way through the 
reservation, first a compensation being paid therefor, 
in money. 



RK.MIXJSCENCES OF NEBRASKA. IQ 

The treaty shall be obligatory on the contracting 

parties as soon as the same shall be ratified by the 

President and Senate of the United States. 
(Signed) Geo. \\'. Manypenny, 

Commissioner. 

Signed: Shongaska, or Logan Fontanelle; Estha- 
maga, or Joseph La Flesche; Gratamahje, of Standing 
Hawk; Gahhegagahgingah, or Little Chief; Tah- 
Wahgahha, or Village ^Nlaker; Wahnokega, or Noise; 
Sodanahze, or Yellow Smoke. 

Executed in the presence of James M. Gatewood, 
Lidian Agent; James Goszler, Charles Calvert, James 
D. Kerr, Henry Beard, Alfred Chapman; and Louis 
Saunsoci, interpreter. 

In the executive session Senate of the United 
States, April 17, 1854, it was resolved by a two-thirds 
vote of the senate present concurring: That the Sen- 
ate advise and consent to the ratification of the articles 
of agreement and convention made and concluded in 
the City of Washington on the i6th day of March, 
1854, by George \\\ Manypenny, as agent, and the 
already named Omaha Indian council ; that being 
thereto duly authorized by said tribe; with following 
amendment: Article 3; strike out "185 1," and insert 
1852. Fraxklin Pierce, 

Attest : President. 

AsHBURY DiCKEXS, Sccrctarv. 



CHAPTER TWO. 

NEBRASKA AS A TERRITORY THE FIRST GOVERNOR 

death of burt location of the capitol 

Nebraska's oldest town — first newspaper — ad- 
mission AS A STATE— LIST OF GOVERNORS INDIAN 

TRADERS DECATUR TOWNSITE AND FERRY CO. IN- 
CORPORATORS THE engineer's MAP. 

The act which admitted Nebraska as a territory 
was passed by Congress, May 4, 1854. At a pubHc 
gathering in the httle historical village of Bellevue 
in the summer of the same year. Rev. Wm. Hamilton 
was elected as provisional governor, a Presbyterian 
missionary, who in the latter part of his life made De- 
catur his home, and died at this place. 

Francis Biurt was the first executive officer of the 
territory by a])pointment of the g-overnment, assuming 
the seat of authority, October 8, 1854. He was a 
native of Pendleton, South Carolina, and a man of 
about 45 years; broad intellectual characteristics, and 
one who would ha\'e accomplished much good f(M- our 
state had he lived. Governor Burt died shortly after 
his arrival to Nebraska Territory. He had only con- 
trolled the reigns of government ten days when he 
passed away. The date and place of his death is Octo- 



RKMIXISCKNCES OF NEBRASKA. 21 

her 1 8, 1854, at the old Presbyterian Mission House 
at Bellevue. Mr. Burt was conscious of his condition, 
and retained his presence of mind to the last breath. 
Rev. W'm. Hamilton was at the dying governor's bed- 
side, to assist the dying man in bodily comforts, and 
administer to him the condolence of a Christian's faith 
and love. It was Rev. Hamilton who closed the eyes, 
which should never more witness the enactments upon 
the panorama of humanity's theatre. 

After the death of Governor Burt, Secretary Thos. 
B. Cuming became the acting governor of the ter- 
ritory. He stated to Rev. Hamilton if a donation of 
100 acres was given him, he would use his influence 
to locate the capitol at Bellevue. Mr. Hamilton 
rejected the proposition most strongly, and using his 
own words, replied : "Not a foot of land to the man, 
sir." After considerable personal animosity and politi- 
cal manipulation, and the worst of the difficulties over- 
come, the capitol was located at Omaha. 

The first territorial convention of the legislature, of 
the Territory, which was held in Omaha, was called 
to order 1)y the gavel of Gov. Cuming, January 16, 
1855. Those who represented Burt county at this 
memorial gathering were B. R. Folsom, as councilman, 
of Tekamah; and A. C. Purple, as representative, of 
Tekamah; the former gentleman also the founder of 
the city of Tekamah. 



22 , STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

Bellevue is beyond all doubt the oldest settlement by 
white people in the state. 1823 an Indian agency was 
established here; but even prior to this time there was 
a trader's post, in the interests of the American Fur 
Company. It is quite possible the Indian trader made 
his debut in Nebraska just after the beginning of 1800, 
but beyond this date, any statement of the white man, 
in the character of a post-trader in Nebraska, would 
be doubtful. In 1846, Rev. Ed McKinney, a Presby- 
terian missionary, was sent out by the Presbyterian 
Board of Foreign Missions to do missionary work 
among the Indians at this point. He built for himself 
that same year a log shanty to reside in, and in 1848, 
under his supervision a mission house was erected to 
instruct Indian children in. On January 19, 1854, 
Bellevue was incorporated as a village, and among 
those who took part in its organization were Col. Peter 
A. Sarpy and Commodore Steven Decatur. The first 
newspaper published in Nebraska Territory was at 
Bellevue, Nov. 14, 1854; Thos. Morton, editor. The 
first church in Nebraska was also erected here. 

The incorporation of Omaha was the same year as 
Bellevue, only a trifle later, Sept. i, 1854. Florence 
as a village is older than Omaha or Bellevue, its in- 
corporation taking place in 1853, upon the site where 
a Mormon band camped in 1845. In 1848 the Mor- 



REMIXISCKXCES OF NEBRASKA. 27, 

mons were ordered off by the Indian agent. Some of 
the band crossed the river and went over into Iowa, 
but the most of them immigrated to Salt Lake. In 
their movement to the west, Florence was the general 
station and starting point for their wagon trains. 

Tekamah may be recorded as manifesting indica- 
tions of life, 1855. There were two log houses and 
one tent, and the population about eight people. As 
incorporated villages, Decatur and Tekamah are about 
the same age, but as a settlement, Decatur is one year 
the older. 

Decatur receives its origin from three Indian traders 
of Bellevue. in 1854, Col. Peter A. Sarpy, Henry 
Fontanelle, and Clemet Lambert, who built log houses, 
and transacted business with the Omaha Indians who 
had just moved up. 

A chronological table of the governors of Nebraska 
as a territory, and their homes, is as follows; also grv- 
ing the date of inauguration : 

Francis Burt, Bellevue, Oct. 16, 1854. 

Mark W. Bard, Omaha, Feb. 20, 1855. 

W. A. Richardson, Omaha, Jan. 12, 1858. 

Samuel W. Black, Omaha, May 2, 1858. 

Alvin Saunders, Omaha, May 15, 1861. 

Nebraska was admitted as a state ]\Iarch 11, 1867. 
Following is a list of the governors, their homes and 



24 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

the date of executive inauguration : 

David Butler, Pawnee City, Feb. 20, 1867. 

Robt. W. Furnas, Brownville, Jan. 13, 1873. 

Silas Garber, Omaha, Jan. 11, 1875. 

Albinus Nance, Osceola, Jan. 9, 1879. 

John W. Dawes, Crete, Jan. 4, 1883. 

John M. Thayer, Omaha, Jan. 8, 1891. 

Lorenzo Crounse, Fort Calhoun, Jan. 13, 1893. 

Silas A. Holcomb, Broken Bow, Jan. 3, 1895-97. 

Wm. A. Poynter, Albion, Jan. 3, 1899. 

The incorporation of Decatur took place in the fall 
of 1856. The exact date is not known, as there is no 
record of it. Its incorporators were S. A. Decatur, 
Thos. H. Whitacre, T. H. Hineman, George W. Mason 
and Herman Glass. The name of the incorporation 
was "The Decatur Townsite and Ferry Company." 
Mason was its attorney and secretary. Over $12,000 
was invested in improvements and the laying out of 
the town. The next spring, Jones, Brown and Charley 
Porter of New York State came out and purchased 
some stock of the incorporation. At that time shares 
were worth from $40 to $50. This was the year that 
S. T. Leaming came, and when the news got out that 
he was a civil engineer and railroad surveyor of the 
I. C. A. L. R. R., and had purchased a large tract of 
land adjoining the townsite, people went wild, and 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 25 

Stock in the Decatur Townsite and Ferry Co. jumped 
in t\\o weeks from $40 to $1,100 a share. 

In the spring- of 1857. al)out the time that Geo. W. 
Doane arrived here, the town was laid out and sur- 
veyed by Thos. H. Whitacre, assisted by Silas T. 
Learning. A map of the town was drafted by Mr. 
Whitacre, and lithographed in St. Louis. In the south- 
east portion of the map is the following recommenda-. 
tion in script letters : 

"Thos. H. Whitacre. Topographical and Civil En- 
gineer, ]3ecatur, N. T." 

Decatur is situated on the west bank of the Missouri 
River. 42 parallel of North Latitude. The river banks 
are high above the highest water marks of themselves 
and offered one of the best landings on the river, con- 
sisting of a tenacious clay mixed with limestone. The 
timber on both banks of river prove to full satisfac- 
tion that the river has never changed or washed. Tim- 
ber in great abundance of good quality on the east 
side of river. The Iowa Central Railroad when C' 411- 
pleted will terminate at this place and from here west 
a very practical railroad line offers either to the north 
bend of the Platte River, or on a due line to the south 
pass, making this on the most direct and practical line 
of the Atlantic and Pacific railroad." 

And now I invite mv readers to go with me into 



20 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

pathways and among the everglades of the past, and 
as we move along in these sacred and interesting chan- 
nels, I will recite for him or her, reminiscences of the 
first settlers of Decatnr; the men who witnessed and 
took part in its incorporation, assisted in its progress, 
and made it possible for the little village to subsist 
upon its own environments, and tend to a future which 
might bring for it, some day, by the emulations of its 
natural undeveloped commercial possibilities, the suc- 
cesses and advantages of a large and prosperous 
metropolis. In the foregoing chapters, a general out- 
line of the condition of Nebraska wall also be given, 
as found by the hardy pioneer; and many of the most 
important events which transpired throughout the ter- 
ritory will also be presented. In the preceding chap- 
ters, the author is cjuite evident this field has been care- 
fully gone over. The pioneers of Northeastern Ne- 
braska will next be dealt with. 



CHAPTER THREE. 

GRAPHIC AND PITHY BIOGRAPHIES OF DECATUR'S 
EARLIEST SETTLERS CAPTAIN PORTER. DR. WHIT- 
ACRE, COL. SARPY, LAMBERT, OAKLEY, FONTENELLE, 
FULLER, CANFIELD, OWENS, ENGLEMAX, AND 

OTHERS THE FIRST MAYOR THE FIRST VILLAGE 

ELECTION OPENING SESSION OF COUNCIL COPIES 

OF ELECTIONS NOTORIOUS CLAIM CLUBS OF '56- 

'57 JACK morrow's close CALL. 

This chapter bubbles over with fascinating interest, 
because it introduces to the reader the personaHty of 
the actors who made it possible for Decatur to become 
a village, and live; the staid, invincible characters who 
fought and faced the vicissitudes of the wilderness and 
gave to their posterity a future which teems with 
wealth and golden opportunity. Upon this same 
ground where they chased and shot the deer and buf- 
falo for their meat and subsistance, today there rolls 
up heavenward clouds of smoke from the untiring 
factory, and the harmony which oscilates from the 
great wheel of commercial industry is sweet music to 
their successive and progressive generations. The.-.e 
biographies are chopped int') short jiaragraphs, de- 



28 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

void of embellishments, and so arranged as to be con- 
venient for ready reference. 

Charles Porter, a captain in the United States army 
during the Indian outbreak, came to Decatur from 
New York State with a man named Jones in 1857. 
They brought with them a steam mill, but could never 
get it to operate. Bunked with Leaming in his sod 
house for a long time. Porter was engaged in the 
merchandise business part of the time and John D. 
McMurphy was one of his clerks. Porter now re- 
sides in Brooklyn, New York, employed in the Gov- 
ernment navy yards and has charg-e of the lumber 
department. 

The "Turn Around Tavern," a shanty made of Cot- 
tonwood slabs, owner. Mat Wilber, was one of th^ 
first buildings of Decatur. After its discontinuance as 
a hotel, it was occupied by Sam Hollard of Council 
Bluffs, a young man of much ability, who used it for 
a merchandise store. Hollard was sent here by Dr. 
Horn, also of Council Bluffs. Carried a stock of 
groceries, liquors and other stuffs. Quite successful 
for a while, but grew careless and finally failed. 
Drifted into the habit of ducking his troubles in the 
bowl of dissipation and went back to his Council 
Blufis home when he died. Dr. Horn was a staunch 
friend of Hollard' s and cared for him to the last. 



REMINISCENXES OF NEBRASKA. 29 

Captain Silas T. Learning, a native of New York 
State, came here in the fall of 1856, the year of the 
incorporation. Bought the claim where he now lives 
from a man named Rose, paying him $6,400 in gold 
for it, consisting of three hundred and twenty acres. 
This was the year before the Government survey had 
been made. Also pre-empted one hundred and sixty 
acres and kept a good horse. Had to run the animal 
tw;ice to Omaha, where the registrar's office was, a 
Mr. Parker in charge, to save his land from jumpers. 
The captain slept in a sod house on his land, and took 
his meals with Wilson, the keeper of the tavern. Early 
part of his life in Decatur interested in real estate. 
Bought 1,000 acres of land across the river and a 
number of shares of Decatur townsite stock. Was 
positive that a railroad was coming and located here 
on the strength of that belief. A railroad company 
was organized in Decatur in 1857, of which Mr. 
Leaming was appointed chief engineer. As his assist- 
ants he secured the ser\'ices of Don Barker and John 
^IcBride. both residing in town at the time and thor- 
oughly qualified to fill the positions. These two gen- 
tlemen were formerly employed as surveyors for the 
I. C. & .\. L. R. R., now known as the Chicago & 
Northwestern. Don was an old bachelor; went to 
Wyoming and died there. John ^^IcBride is remem- 



30 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

bered as a young fellow who visited with Commodore 
Decatur and made his headquarters there. He was a 
sport, fond of dogs, and pretty girls, and enjoyed 
hunting and fishing. Went from here to California. 

Tw^o brothers, Ben Gilbert and John Oak, natives 
of Sweden, made their home here in 1857, but did 
not stay long. Gilbert homesteaded a piece of land 
nine miles south on the bluff road, and Oak one hun- 
dred and sixty acres on Silver Creek, over the bridge 
west of the poor farm. The names Gilbert and Oak 
was granted to them by an act of the Territorial Leg- 
islature. In 1865 Oak pre-empted the townsite on 
which the city of Oakland has been built and named 
the town. Went from there to Homer; built a grist 
mill, bought some property, failed and died. Gilbert 
still lives on his homestead and is one of Burt county's 
prosperous farmers. 

T. H. Hineman, one of the incorporators, came 
over the river from Onawa in 1855. Homesteaded 
a piece of land south of town known as the Hineman 
farm. Owned considerable Decatur property and 
was worth about $12,000. Native of New York State 
and born October 22, 181 8. Latter part of his life 
lived with the Canfield and Fuller families. Slipped 
on the sidewalk and broke his leg, which caused his 
death, February 25, 1888. Sick two weeks. Mrs. A. 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 3I 

B. Fuller has a twenty-five cent American coin which 
Hineman carried in his pocket since he was a boy. It 
was made the same year he was born. Hineman's 
surname was Truman Hart, but for short, as he 
laug-hingly put it, called himself "Truehearted." 

Jeremiah Carter, from Pennsylvania, arrived in 
1856; took a claim west of town and in later years 
deeded it to Mrs. A. B. Fuller to care for him until he 
died. Queer character; a rough but very faithful old 
man. In i860 took care of the stables at this place 
for the Western Stage Company and Mail Route run- 
ning from Sioux City to Omaha. When Carter first 
came here he boarded with Hobbs and at the Brown 
Hotel. He was a drummer boy in the war of 1812 
and received a pension of $12 a month. Died at the 
home of Mr. and Mrs. Fuller, February 7, 1882, and 
was buried up on the hill. Born in New York State, 
February 15, 1795. 

Brown, a New Yorker, built a three-story frame 
hotel in 1857, 24x40, where the old bank building- 
stands now. On this investment he went broke. 
Traded a gold watch to S. T. Leaming, which cost 
him $100, for a horse, and went to Denver, Colorado. 
Jumped a claim, part of the townsite, and held it. 
It was one of those lucky moves which makes a man 
rich in a day. Brown built the famous Brown Palace 



32 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

of Denver City, a structure that cost over $1,000,000. 
His Decatur property was purchased by A. B. Fuller. 
On May i, 1876, the hotel was destroyed by fire; 
cause, a defective chimney. 

George W. Mason, one of the incorporators and a 
native of New^ York, came to Decatur in the spring 
of 1856. Was a legal advisor and secretary of the 
Decatur Townsite and Ferry Company, and a wide- 
awake lawyer who had the interest of the village at 
heart. His health was not good and he was troubled 
with the asthma. Homesteaded the farm that Frank 
J. Griffin lives on now. Went to Virginia and died 
Built the dwelling which Thos. R. Ashley and family 
reside in. 

Steven Decatur Bross, better known as Commodore 
Decatur, came to the town which was named in his 
honor, frum Bellevue, at which place a clerk in the 
trading post of Col. Peter A. Sarpy. Followed the 
Omahas who moved up that year, and located on a 
farm now knouii as the Decatur Springs place, the 
property of James Ashley. The Commodore built a 
sod and frame house and temporarily resided here. 
Married a widow lady, Mrs. Thomas of Council Blufifs, 
who had three children^Abbie, Waldo, and Lizzie. 
Decatur entered the mercantile business before the in- 
corporation act and made lots of money in his traffic 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. ^^ 

with the Indians, who at that time were drawing- 
large annuities. Was a portly, erect, fine looking man, 
and quite a favorite with the ladies. Courteous and 
graceful in his speech and movements, he won the 
confidence of the town and made friends wherever 
he went. For some reason which has never been dis- 
closed he dropped his name Bross. Governor Bross, 
editor and proprietor of the Chicago Tribune, was a 
brother of his; also Colonel Bross of the Board of 
Trade Battery of Chicago. Decatur went from here 
to Colorado and was a representative from that state 
in 1876 to the Centennial Exposition at Philadelphia. 
He died in Colorado and his widow lives in San Diego, 
California, with her daughter, Mrs. Abbie Stevens, 
whose husband at one time in the early 6o's, was a 
merchant of Decatur. The Commodore w^as a pecu- 
liar gentleman; very eccentric, and yet in spite of his 
oddity a good neighbor and regarded all law-abid- 
ing men as equals. Was a clerk in Sarpy's trading 
post at Decatur a few months. 

Hank D. Cline was one of the early settlers after 
the incorporation of the town. A native of Pennsyl- 
vania, and after remaining here a few years, returned 
to his home, and now lives in the city of Philadelphia. 
Hank built the dwelling that James Dillon and fam- 
ily now occupy; was a carpenter by trade and took 



34 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

the contract for the Henry Fontenelle residence; Ed. 
Canfield and Lorenzo Hobbs assisting him in the 
work; and Jacob Snyder, who now lives west of town 
on the Blackbird Creek near the reservation line, was 
the man who put on the plaster and built the chim- 
neys. Material for the dwelling-, frame and finishing 
stuff was hauled up from Omaha and cost something 
over $2,000. Finest piece of residence property at 
that time for miles around. Fontenelle was then Gov- 
ernment interpreter for the Omahas, commanding a 
large salary, and could well afford to erect such a 
handsome home. 

Jones of New York State, better known as "Farmer 
Jones," located here in 1857; boarded at the Brown 
Hotel, then under the management of Mr. Sidmore. 
Pre-empted 160 acres just over the west line of the 
town, now in possession of F. E. McNutt; was a man 
of means with a polished education and came on the 
strength of a report that a railroad would be built to 
town. After a few years of patient waiting he left in 
disgust, and now resides in Lafayette, Lidiana. 

Matthew C. Wilber and his wife were among the 
first arrivals in the spring of 1856. Mrs. Wilber 
taught school in a little town north of Onawa, which 
later was consumed by the incorporation of Whiting. 
Matt was interested in horses; conducted a rough and 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 35 

ready livery stable. ]\Irs. Wilber resigned her position 
as school teacher, and assisted her husband in the man- 
agement of the Turn Around Tavern. Went from 
here to Omaha and invested in a livery barn. Mr. 
Wilber died in that city in 1890; and his wife ft allowed 
him two years after\yard. 

Dr. Thomas H. Whitacre, a physician by profession, 
educated for a civil engineer and a native of New 
York, located here in 1855; one of the incorporators 
and employed Ijy the Townsite and Ferry Company to 
draft a plat and survey the town. Practiced medicine 
here and throughout the country; population at that 
time very limited, and the first doctor to hang out his 
shingle in Decatur. Dr. Low followed him shortly 
afterward in the practice. Mr. Whitacre was a man 
full of energy and ambition and it was largely through 
his instrumentality that the organization of the De- 
catur Townsite and Ferry Company took place. 
Elected several terms as village recorder and coun- 
cilman. After the rainbow of hope which had radiated 
its bright colors of future promise on the railroad 
map of Decatur for so long at last faded away into 
the gloom of eternal despair, the doctor went back 
to his Ohio home and a few years later died. The 
handful of old settlers who still live and knew him, 
revere the memory of Thomas H. Whitacre as a man 



36 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

wliose cliaracter was above reproach. When a resi- 
dent of Decatur he hved where the James Neary fam- 
ily do now and was the builder of that house. 

Paul Dominick was an old Frenchman; born at 
Jefferson Barracks, and came to Decatur, or rather 
the settlement, in the summer of 1855. Located on 
a claim what is now known as the "Colonel Paul 
Place." Blacksmith by trade and erected a shop on 
his farm. Killed himself one rainy morning, while 
preparing to go to Pike's Peak. 

William Gaylord, an easterner, became a resident in 
1857; a carpenter by trade, and built the Page dwell- 
ing, better known as the Heath House. Also a con- 
tractor; went from here to Omaha and died there. 

Lucien Fontenelle was born in 1803 at a small set- 
tlement called Burat in the southern part of the State 
of Louisiana. When but 14 years old a clerk in a 
New Orleans banking house. Was of royal descent, 
and his parents perished in a hurricane when he was 
a baby, at the town of his birth. When this sad in- 
cident occurred, Lucien and his sister Amelia were 
under the care of an aunt. Madam Merlier, of the City 
of New Orleans. It was the hand of fate that saved 
him. The parents left their children a large estate 
and they were placed under the care of their aunt, 
Mrs. Merlier. She was a cruel, haughty woman, and 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 37 

one day in a lit of passion she struck Lucien. This 
wounded the hoy's independence and pride and he ran 
away from home. Went to the northwest, comins^ 
most of the way with Major Pilcher of the United 
States army. Fontenehe was employed l)y the Amer- 
ican Fur Company; crossed the Rockies to the Pacific 
coast; conducted a trader's post at Fort Laramie, as- 
sisted by a Mr. Dripps; married an Omaha Indian 
woman, and the latter part of his life lived in Bellevue, 
where he died and was buried. Fontenelle was a typi- 
cal frontiersman; generous to a fault, and true to his 
friends. There were five children, Albert, Tecumseh, 
Logan, Henry, and Susan. Henry came from Belle- 
vue to Decatur with the Omahas in the summer of 
1854. Locatetd on the north side of Wood Creek, 
next to the river, where he lived until he died, Wed- 
nesday morning, March 26, 1899. 

Henry Fontenelle was born at Fort Laramie, August 
20, 1 83 1. Educated under the direction of Father 
De Smit, the historical Catholic missionary; and ap- 
prenticed himself to the wheelwright trade in Kansas 
City. Li an early day near Decatur conducted a large 
merchandise store and made lots of money. C. C. 
Dunn, now of Blair, clerked for him several years. 
Mr. Fontenelle took an active part in the organization 
of Thurston County. Married Aliss Emily Pappan, 



38 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

of St. Louis, at Bellevue, on the 28th day of February, 
1855. To them were born the follow^ing children: 
Lucien A.. March 9, 1856; Eugene, July 21, 1858; 
Victoria, September 2, i860; Raymond, February 
Q-J, 1862; Emily, November 15, 1864; Emma, Febru- 
ary 15, 1869; Ella, October 16, 1870; and Nattie, 
October 16, 1876. All are dead Init Eugene and Ray- 
mond. Eugene married Miss May Otteson of De- 
catur at Pender, March 16, 1899; ceremony performed 
by Judge Curry. 

, Lorenzo Hobbs and family of Massachusetts located 
here in the latter part of the 50's. Contractor, and 
built the house which is now occupied by Mr. and 
Mrs. D. C. Griffin. First used as a hotel. Pre-empted 
40 acres of land joining the town on the east. Moved 
to Omaha where his wife died. Re-married and now 
lives in ^Montana. Will, his eldest son, has been 
Sheriff of Siskiyou County, California, for years. 
Henry, another son, resides in Bancroft, a well-to-do 
merchant. In 1881 the building now occupied by 
John T. Choyce \vas built for Hobl^s, by A. B. Fuller, 
to use as a general merchandise store. 

Clement Lambert was born near the City of St. 
Louis, October 2, 1807. When a boy he ran away 
from home to join the expedition of Gen. Fremont, 
who succeeded in determining much of the typography 



KHMJNISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 39 

of this western country. Lambert was an employe of 
the American Fur Company. Came to Decatur from 
Behevue wath Peter A. Sarpy in the summer of 1854. 
Both of them estabhshed a trading- post here. Engle- 
man, an old soldier of the Mexican war, in the United 
States service, clerking for Sarpy at his Bellevue store, 
came up that year and took charge of the post at this 
place. Engieman also receives a pension of $12 a 
month and was postmaster of the settlement. ]\Ir. 
Lambert was a resident of Decatur until the day of his 
death, March 5, 1879. In 1867 his sister moved to 
Omaha from her St. Louis home. She was an in- 
valid; her complaint rheumatism, and as a relief used 
Coal oil, applying it externally. It will never be known 
just how it happened, but the house caught fire and 
she was burnt to death. 

Mr. Jones, the man who came here with Charley 
Porter, was of a high family, and all of his people 
well connected. A. Jones, a brother, at one time was 
the editor and proprietor of one of the leading papers 
of Xew York City; John Jones, another brother, was 
chief clerk in the Omaha postoffice in an early day. 
His daughter, Mary, married Dr. Sherlls, pastor of 
the Omaha Congreg-ational Church. Jones went west 
from here; invested his money in mining- stock, and 
lost evervthing he had. Became estrang-ed from his 



40 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

family and then went back to the old home in New 
York City. Captain Leaming met him in Chicago 
a number of years ago and he was then reporting for 
one of the dailies. Jones was despondent and melan- 
choly. Leaming, without permission, telegraphed his 
family in New York City; they came out and it was a 
happy reunion. Mr. Jones went back with them. 

Michael Calnon and his wife, Bridget Haley, were 
natives of Ireland. To them have been born : Thadeus 
B., Mary Pauline, John A, James, William G., Lewis 
F., Thomas E., and George M. Mr. Calnon, by occu- 
pation, was a farmer; religion. Catholic; politics, a 
democrat. From Ireland came to Canada, then to 
Illinois and worked in the lead mines; took a pre- 
emption near Omaha in 1855; drove off by land sharks 
at the point of a pistol. At another time with his 
hands tied behind him, a party of masked men took 
him to the river, and at the end of a rope ducked him 
in the Missouri, threatening to drown Mr. Calnon 
if he did not withdraw all claims and title to his home- 
stead. Refused to concede to their demands; the 
rope slipped and he was pulled out a little farther down 
the stream, about twenty feet from the shore, with a 
long pole, by a couple of friends. Some of the per- 
petrators of this outrage are now prominent citizens 
of Omaha. For his wife's sake. Mr. Calnon abandoned 



Uli.MINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 4I 

the claim and moved to Decatur in 1857. He was 
not the only man who was molested and tormented 
in his rights by the infamous outlawry of these rogues. 
Calnon homesteaded 160 acres near Decatur, and died 
here; Dr. \Miitacre attended the sick bed. He was 
buried up on the hill. All the children are Burt 
County residents; prosperous farmers and business 
men. 

Thomas Foley, an Irishman, came from the east 
with Brackett and Blackstone, and had two sons, James 
and John. A bricklayer and stonemason by trade; 
homesteaded 160 acres west of town and deeded it to 
his son James, who sold it to Maryott & IMcHirron. 
James went from there to Blair and engaged in the 
cattle business with a man named Chittenden; now 
has a commission office in South Omaha. John went 
to California. Tom went from here to Blair to live 
with his son and died there. While residents of De- 
catur the Foleys lived in a small frame house which 
stood in the rear of where the Chapin & Son drug store 
is now. Time has obliterated it from the present, and 
a few years ago it fell, a victim of decay and hard 
usage. The first Catholic mass read in Decatur was at 
Mr. Ff'ley's honie by Father Ryan of St. John's, Ne- 
braska, in 1862. 

Frank Weichi was an eastern bov and a civil en- 



42 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

g'ineer by profession; came here in 1856, and the first 
postmaster of Decatur proper. Afterwards represented 
the people of this district as congressman in the legis- 
lative halls at Washington. Owned a half interest in 
the merchandise firm of Stevens & Welch; the former 
gentleman the son-in-law of Commodore Decatur. 
Frank dropped dead while attending a convention at 
West Point several years ago. He was a member of 
the House at the time and Congress adjourned a day 
as a mark of respect. His obituary was put upon the 
records and a number of memorial speeches delivered 
by noted associates. W^as a member of the council, 
and village recorder for several years. He was very 
popular among Decatur people and liked by all who 
knew him. His birthplace was Boston, Massachu- 
setts. 

The following list concludes Decatur's earliest set- 
tlers : George W. Doane, first lawyer; his office, the 
little building where Daniel Morley keeps his coffins; 
his partner, David L. Collier; came here in 1857. 
Christopher C. Dunn, an expert machinist from Chi- 
cago, 1857. John Chase, from Bellevue, trader, 1855; 
village treasurer, 1858. S. T. Preston, plasterer; 
Adam Kerns, saw mill man; John Leonard, machinist; 
Mike Evans, general work; Charles Goodell, carpen- 
ter; S. T. Youno-, farmer; A. B. Fuller, hotel man. 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 43 

contractor and builder; E. D. Canfield, carpenter and 
contractor. Harry Owens, general work, and later 
farmer. During the winter of 1857 and the deep 
snow, Mr. Owens went to Onawa on horseback, for 
the mail, and was paid $10 for the trip. He was the 
only man who could wade the snow, on account of his 
height. 

The dissolution of the Decatur Townsite and Ferry 
Company was gradual. New faces appeared; fam- 
ilies came, bought lotf( and built homes. The stock 
exhausted itself in the demands of fresh arrivals, and 
in the fall of 1857 there was a total assimilation by 
the tissues of a grow ing public. The first village 
election by the people was on January 14th, 1857, and 
the following is a copj of the meeting of the initiatory 
council : 

Opening session of 1 he Decatur City Common Coun- 
cil held February 8, 1358. Met at the house of S. B. 
Griswald, all of the aVlermen present, and the mayor 
in the chair. The meeting was called to order by the 
mayor, and the following certificates were produced 
for record: For ma}ir, Silas T. Leaming; aldermen, 
Jacob Snyder, and D. B. Gaylord; all duly signed by 
the deputy county cbtrk. On motion of S. T. Leam- 
ing moved that W. W. Wilson of this city be ap- 
pointed city att(M-ne>. Said W. W. Wilson was duly 



44 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

elected and the recorder instructed to inform him of 
said election. On motion of the mayor the recorder 
was instructed to inform the city attorney that he 
should draw up a set of city ordinances. On motion 
of the mayor adjourned. Frank Welch, Recorder. 

Following- is a copy of the certificate of election of 
Captain S T. Leaming, the first mayor of Decatur: 

(Filed February 8th, 1858.) I, I. R. Hyde, Deputy 
Clerk in and for the County of Burt, N. T., do hereby 
certify that an election held in the City of Decatur, on 
the 14th day of Janu.try, 1858, Silas T. Leaming was 
duly elected mayor of said city. Given under my 
hand this 15th day of January, 1858. I. R. Hyde, 
Deputy County Clerk, 

At a meeting of the council a short time afterwards, 
the following ordinances were voted upon and ac- 
cepted : Ordinance No i, "To provide for the meet- 
ing of the city council''; No. 2, ''To regulate official 
bonds"; No. 3, "Regulating official fees"; No. 4, "To 
define the duties of the recorder"; No. 5, "To provide 
for the granting of a license to sell intoxicating 
liquors." 

Following is a copy of the journal of the town coun- 
cil held in the town office, Monday, June 4, i860: 
Mayor Hobbs in the chair. Aldermen present : Stev- 
ens, Leaming and Kearns. Leaming presented his 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 45 

bond Avliicli was accepted, as alderman. T. H. \Miit- 
acre's bond was presented by C. F. Porter as recorder, 
which was accepted. By request of S. T. Learning 
the minutes of the last meeting were read and laid 
on the table until the next meeting. On motion ad- 
journed until June ii. Thos. H. Whitacre, Re- 
corder. 

Following is a copy of the journal of the town 
council held at Mr. Hobbs' home, June 2, i860: Pres- 
ent Aldermen Evans and Dunn; Mayor Flobbs in the 
chair. Minutes of last meeting read and approved. 
The poll list of the annual charter election was read, 
of which the followdng is a copy: May 7th, i860, at 
an election held in Decatur, Burt County, N. T., the 
whole number of votes cast was twenty-four, (24), 
and the following persons secured the respective num- 
ber of votes opposite their names for the different 
respective offices : 

M. Evans, for Mayor 12 

C. F. Porter for Mayor 12 

L. Hobbs, for Councilman 10 

C. Dunn, for Councilman 10 

F. Welch, for Councilman 10 

A. Kerns, for Councilman 15 

A. Higley, for Councilman 10 

S. T. Leaming, for Councilman. ... 13 



46 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

A. B. Fuller, for Councilman 2 

Thos. H. Whitacre, for Recorder. . . 17 

J. S. Ramseyer, for Recorder 7 

F. H. Stevens, for Treasurer 10 

C. Eng-leman, for Treasurer 14 

J. E. Wilson, for Assessor i 

A. B. Fuller, for Assessor 9 

J. Dalrymple, for Assessor 12 

T. C. Goodell, Marshal 11 

Wm. Point, Marshal 12 

Judges of election : H. B. Gaylord, S. T. Learning, 
and Adam Kerns. Clerk of election : Thos. H. Whit- 
acre and J. E. Dowley. 

Officers elected: Aldermen: Kerns and Learning. 
Recorder : T. H. Whitacre. Treasurer : C. Engle- 
man. Assessor : J. Dalrymple. William Point, Mar- 
shal. 

On motion of Mr. Evans the mayor was ordered 
to give notice for an election to be held in the town 
of Decatur, on the first Monday of July next to elect 
a mayor and one alderman. Motion carried. On 
motion adjourned to Monday night next, the regular 
monthly meeting. Chas. F. Porter, Recorder. 

Following is the copy of an election held in the vil- 
lage of Decatur, N. T., on the 5th day of May, 1862: 
Chas. F. Porter, for Mayor...... 16 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 47 

C. Lambert. Alderman i 

F. H. Stevens, Alderman 13 

T. J. Laughlin, Alderman 12 

S. T. Leaming, Alderman 7 

S. Decatur, .Vlderman i 

Thos. H. Whitacre, Recorder 14 

Frank Welch, Recorder i 

Adam Kerns, Treasurer 13 

Lorenzo Hobbs, Treasurer i 

A. B. Fuller, Assessor 12 

Hiram Higley, Assessor i 

J. L Ogg, Marshal 12 

The land claim clubs of '56 and '57 of this country 
were bold in their criminal actions, resorting to many 
deeds of outlawry and respecting nothing but the force 
of arms emanating to their own vicious and selfish 
ends. In their assertion of right of possession to cer- 
tain claims atrocious acts were committed, to gain 
title to lands which in the eyes of the law — should a 
court of justice have intervened — rightfully belonged 
to the honest and well-meaning homesteader. A few 
of the outrages perpetrated by these lawless organiza- 
tions may be recorded as follows : 

The State Historical Society says: That the club 
of Omaha in '56 took Michael Calnon to the Mis- 
souri, River, and after cutting a hole large enough, 



48 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

ducked him in the chilly waters until he was almost 
drowned and frozen and then escorted him to the 
United States land office by the subtle persuasion of 
a loaded pistol pointed at his head and compelled to 
give up the claim which was rightfully his by the law 
of the land. 

Dr. Henry of Omaha and another man had a dis- 
pute about a claim near Bellevue. Dr. Henry's gun 
very mysteriously exploded and his comrade fell dead 
at his feet. At the time of the accident the doctor 
and the adverse claimant were engaged in friendly 
chat; and also making overtures to settle the dispute 
by dividing the claim — which both finally agreed to 
do. The accidental and deplorable death of the doc- 
tor's neighbor during the conversation gave Mr. 
Henry complete and absolute possession, thanks to 
the' unexpected arrival of an amiable arbitrator — the 
doctor's exploded fire-arm. 

In those days every townsite along the Missouri 
River was under the control of some some land claim 
club and the man who came to homestead a piece of 
land was compelled to go five or six miles beyond the 
line of these so-called townsites. A captain of a 
steamboat pulling up the river observed a settler on 
the banks and shouted to him : "Hello, there. What's 
the name of your town?" The settler replied in a 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 49 

loud voice : "This haint no town. I'm tryin' to farm 
here." "Good," yelled back the captain, waiving his 
arms and apparently highly delighted. "Come abroad 
and get a drink; you're the first farmer I've ever seen 
in Nebraska Territory." 

This is a fair illustration going to show^ the scarcity 
of farmers and the abundance of land sharks in those 
rough and tumble times. 

After tlie financial crash of '57, when the wildcat 
banks went broke, few of the townsites were of any 
value except for farming land. Many people had lost 
or spent what ready money they brought with them 
to the Territory, and in '58 a silver quarter looked to 
them as big as a cart wheel. It w^as then the claim 
clubs w^ent to the wall. 

Perhaps one of the best-known men in Middle Ne- 
braska in the early 6o's was Jack Morrow, whose 
ranch was near Cottonwood Sprmgs, a few miles 
west of Fort Kearney. Jack was a fine-looking fel- 
low, generous hearted, but full of dissolute habits. 
One of his principal occupations was trading trav- 
elers good oxen for sore-footed ones, always getting 
a nice little bunch of money to boot; and also had 
the faculty of knowing where stolen horses could be 
found, a gift which almost cost him his life. In those 
days the luxuriant grasses of the valleys grew to a 



^O STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

height of ten to fourteen feet, and the friendly set- 
tlements many long and weary miles apart. Near 
Fort Kearney was the home of the Cheyenne Indians 
and they were ever on the alert to steal ponies and 
attack the smallest of emigrant trains. One evening 
a party of gold seekers put up at Jack's for the night 
and the courteous landlord made them feel very much 
to home. The next morning when the boys went out 
to hitch up to proceed on their journey their ponies 
were discovered missing. Morrow taking in the situ- 
ation at a glance and turning around addressed the 
leader, a brawny, determined-looking fellow: "Say, 
mister, you give me $25 and I will have your horses 
back here in two hours." The traveler looked at Jack 
for a moment and then grabbed him by the throat, 
and poking a pistol under his nose said: "Stranger, 
I don't know whether you're a horse thief or not, but 
if those ponies ain't back here in two hours, me and 
my crowd are going to ha\e a little neck-tie party 
and you'll be the man that works one end of it. Mor- 
row's hands and feet were tied and it was then he saw 
the hopelessness of the case. Despatching a half- 
breed boy that lived with him out to the Cheyenne's 
camp, the ponies were returned to Cottonwood Springs 
in less than two hours. Jack was a* great Indian man, 
and while perhaps not the real culprit, knew who the 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 51 

guilty parties were; told the strangers they were gen- 
tlemen and thanked them for sparing his life. Mor- 
row made a fortune on his ranch and died a few years 
ae-o. 



CHAPTER FOUR. 

THE JAMES FAMILY NEBRASKA INDIAN SCARE OR- 
GANIZATION OF MASONIC LODGE PROGRESS OF 

DECATUR HISTORY OF HER SCHOOLS AND 

CHURCHES— DROWNING OF OWENS, BLAKE, MANS- 
FIELD, AND OTHERS ROBT. MOORE AND THE RISE 

AND FALL OF TIEVILLE ROMANCE OF KIT CARSON 

MURDER OF FRENCH DESPERADO BY THE INDIANS 

SILVER creek's OLD NAME. 

This paragraph introduces an exception in the his- 
tory of the old town, a character well known to the 
people of the West and the United States; mother of 
Frank and Jesse James, famous and successful bandits 
and outlaws, natives of the State of Missouri. Mrs. 
Samuels taught one term of school in the village at 
the town hall in the year of 1862. Her second hus- 
band was a doctor and of late years resided on a 
well-improved farm in Clay County, near Kearney, 
State of Missouri, not far from the old stampmg 
grounds of her renegade sons. During this lady's 
stay in Decatur she established for herself a circle of 
warm friends, but some of her pupils were deathly 
afraid of her, and an incident is told of how she drove 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 53 

a mischievous boy from the scliool room with a broom 
stick. Mrs. Samuels was a portly woman and reputed 
as a person of impulsive qualities, but cool-headed 
in a crisis, and really a brave woman. 

Upon return to her old home near Kearney during 
the progress of the civil war, a bomb was thrown 
through a window of her house, crashing the glass 
and landing on the floor in the center of the room, 
where it exploded with terrific force. One of Mrs. 
Samuel's arms was torn from her shoulder by the 
flying pieces and her infant baby killed. This cruel 
and blood-thirsty act was perpetrated by the villianous 
Ouantrell and his rebel outlaws, venting their terrible 
spleen upon an innocent mother and child, for the 
spite and hatred they held for her sons, Jesse and 
Frank; and it was only a short time prior to this out- 
rage that these same men waylaid and murdered Mr. 
James, an honest and industrious farmer, respected 
by his neighbors. The latter atrocious act was what 
incited Frank and Jesse to become outlaws; and over 
the dead body of their murdered father they registered 
an oath in heaven that neither would rest until the 
last member of Quantrell's band bit the dust of death 
wnth their boots on. This pledge was carried out to 
the letter and the boys' revenge complete, for the 
James brothers hounded the Ouantrell s to the grave, 



54 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

not one escaping the vendetti and to the last surviving- 
member, fell a victim to the oath swbrn on their heads 
by Jesse and Frank. Mrs. Samuels died in the fall of 
1900 in Kansas City at the home of her grandson, 
Jesse James, a successful tobacco merchant of that 
city. 

In an hour of peril and danger the mother never 
forsook her sons and one time when the officers of the 
law came to arrest Jesse she hid him under her skirts. 
Another time when the officers were forcing an en- 
trance, Mrs. Samuels met them at the door, knocked 
the foremost down with her fist, and gave her son the 
signal. Jesse heard it and going to the back door 
disposed of the fellow there in a manner peculiar to 
himself and made his escape. 

Jesse was killed by Bob Ford at St. Joe at his home 
while he was standing on a chair dusting a picture. 
The outlaw's pistols lay on the bed, thus placing him- 
self at the mercy of his murderer. It is said that Jesse 
contemplated killing Bob and Charlie Ford at the time 
of his death. He suspicioned them of treachery. It 
is strange, too, that in a few years after, Charlie Ford 
was killed and Bob committed suicide. 

Dr. Whittier of Decatur had in his possession for 
a long time a note against the rebel bandit Quantrell; 
the amount, $4. It was a present to him from a friend. 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 55 

Capt. J. D. Conner, of Decatur county. Kansas. The 
note was outlawed when the doctor got possession of 
it and only retained it as a keepsake. The note was 
given to Connor by Ouantrell for a pair of pants, he 
living then on an adjoining- farm and known and re- 
spected by his neighbors as a model young man. 

The first Indian scare of any importance to occur 
in Northeastern Nebraska took place in 1858. The 
report came down the river, brought by a man, in a 
small boat, headed for St. Louis. He spread the news 
in Decatur settlement that the Sioux were on the war- 
path and even then- on their way from the north, their 
course of destruction following the settlements bor- 
dering the iViissouri river, pilfering and burnmg every- 
thing before them, and murdering helpless families. 
The alarming report created a panic. Women fainted 
and strong men turned pale. A host of people all over 
the country sold out at a sacrifice and returned to their 
eastern homes, many of them not waiting to sell, but 
immediately forsaking their homes and farms, fleeing 
to settlements on the south and in Iowa for protection, 
under the impulse of fright. But like many other 
fables which have started without a foundation and 
told for the truth, it wa. Mily an empty rumor; and 
dissolved itself from the minds of the people almost 
in a single day. When the truth became known, de- 



56 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

serters returned and new ones followed along, and then 
once more the affrighted settlements grew and thrived. 
Decatur did have one genuine Indian scare, how- 
ever, which almost culminated seriously. It happened 
along close to the occurrence of the one just men- 
tioned. Some of the post traders had been dealing out 
liquors to the Omahas. Under the influence the In- 
dians committed all kinds of depredations as well as 
frightening and threatening the white women, until 
virtue ceased to be a reward and their acts intolerable. 
A vigilance committee waited on the guilty traders and 
notified them if they persisted in this illegal traffic, a 
sentence of death would be imposed on them, but if 
they ceased their nefarious business would be allowed 
to go in peace. This effective step by the citizens 
established peace, and for many years afterwards a 
drunken Indian in Decatur would have been a novel 
sight. Before the trouble was squashed the settlement 
was "wild and wooly" and fights came off regular 
every thirty minutes in the day as well as the night. 
A killing was a common occurrence, but when the In- 
dians threatened to go on the warpath, and came to 
town decorated in fancy feathers and bright colors — 
then the settlers interfered, restoring order out of this 
wild chaos, caused by a reckless indulgence in fire- 
water. 




Hon. Thomas R. Ashley, Pioneer 
Schoolboy of Nebraska. 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 57 

In 1 86 1 a compensation was granted by George 
Armstrong, Grand Master of Nebraska, for the forma- 
tion of a lodge in Decatur; and in the following year, 
the Grand Lodge of Nebraska granted a charter and 
Decatur Lodge No. 7, A. F. and A. M., was consti- 
tuted with the following officers : O. H. Irish, W. AL ; 
Chas. F. Porter, W. S. ; B. R. Folsom. J. W. ; John S. 
Ramsey, secretary; Wm. A. Amsbury, S. D.; Lorenzo 
Hobbs, J. D., and E. D. Canfield, Tiler. This lodge 
continued its organization until 1874, when it sur- 
rendered its charter, many of the members after the 
dissolution joining at Tekamah. On the 17th of 
September, 1881, a dispensation was granted W. J. 
Outhwaite, R. W. Reynolds, L. D. Hoppock, James 
Ashley, M. J. Kenyon, Franklin Goodell, H. C. Mc- 
Hirron, James Littel, and R. G. Langley to organize 
as a lodge, and on the 20th day of June, 1882, Star 
Lodge No. 88 received its charter. On the ist day of 
August, 1 891, the lodge room and its furniture was 
destroyed by fire. It is now located in a cozy hall over 
C. B. Barlow's merchandise store, and in good work- 
ing order. 

The first term of public school taught in Decatur 
was a winter term, beginning in the fall of 186 1, Mrs. 
E. D. Canfield, teacher, in the town hall. Pupils : T. 
R. Ashlev, Lizzie Lambert, Will Flobbs, Gertie Fuller, 



58 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

Beattie Hobbs, James Cahion, Tim Calnoii, Lizzie 
Thompson and Albert Cline. 

Mrs. Alice Perry followed Mrs. Canfield, succeeded 
by Mrs. Samuels; then Miss Shaw;, to Miss Hamilton, 
followed by M. McCrady, Mrs. Decatur, Mr. Masters, 
Miss Welch and Miss Washburn. 

Then the town hall was abandoned and the perpetu- 
ation of the school continued in a little building back 
of the parish residence. The following teachers suc- 
cessively taught here: Miss Benjamin, W. E. Drury, 
Miss Laughlin, Mr. Morrison, Miss Whitcomb, Miss 
Dakin, Mr. Monk, Mr. Button, and Dr. Wm. B. 
Gregg. In 1874 the present brick building was erected, 
since which time the schools have steadily increased, 
until the enrollment has passed the three hundred 
mark. Since the progress of educational work in this 
latter school building, the following instructors have 
successively been in charge : Prof. Secord, Mrs. Jack- 
son; Professors Lake. Graves, Towel, Sears, Atkinson, 
Hadley, Kitts, Fowler, Smith, Quinn, Frazier, Mr. E. 
G. Smith and Prof. Hanson. It was through the efforts 
of B. B. Smith that a library was placed 
in the school, and many good books have been added 
to the collection by private donations. The schools 
are now doing twelfth grade work and the pupils hav- 
ing completed the course of study can enter the LTni- 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 59 

versity of Nebraska without an examination. High 
School graduates as follows: Class of 1891, Mary 
L. Y. Deen and Phoebe E. Learning. Class of 1893, 
Lucy Learning, Stanton Wilder, George F. Morley, 
and Wm. L Langley. Class of 1894, Ida Stanton, 
Howard Long, and Jesse E. Himler (dead.) Class 
of 1896, Flora Calnon and Mason Darling. Class of 
1897, Edward Wilder, James R. Wilder, Jason B. 
White, and William R. Eagleton. Class of 1898, 
Edith F. Gantz, Jesse P. Lake, and Lewis W. Page. 
Class of 1899, Shannon Gatewood, Mable A. Ashley, 
Ralph Langley, and Lizzie White. Decatur has the 
finest school library in Burt county. Its course of 
studies are high, modern, including branches in science, 
and the rapid strides and advancement accomplished 
in educational fields have far exceeded the expectations 
of its patrons and the board of education. As a 
graded school it is second to none in the county and as 
good as any in the state. 

The first white man known to have met his death by 
drowning near Decatur was Thomas Owens, a brother 
of Mont Owens, in the summer of 1862, at the mouth 
of Wood Creek, in the Missouri River, and the sup- 
position is, he was a victim of water cramps. Tom 
called for help, but it was too late to render any as- 
sistance. A number of boys, among the crowd James 



6o STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

Calnon, also in bathing, attempted a rescue, but Owens 
went down for the last time before the)^ could reach 
him. The body was never recovered. 

Wilts Mansfield met a similar fate in 1871. He and 
Frank Kelso were swimming from a sand bar in the 
center of the river, opposite Decatur, to the Nebraska 
bank. The boys made the shore all right and started 
back after a short rest, but missed the point of the bar 
which they had headed for and wore their strength 
out against a strong current. The boys were too tired 
to retrace their course and trusted in getting by the 
swift water, in which successful, would have put them 
within a few feet of the bar. When at last the fear- 
ful predicament was realized that the sand bar could 
never be reached, and that they were too tired to g-i 
back, they called for help. A rescue party responded 
to the appeal, and when within a few feet of the strug- 
gling swimmers, Mansfield sank from exhaustion. 
Kelso was saved and now lives in Oregon, and doing 
well. Wilts Mansfield was a favorite among our 
townspeople and is spoken of by those who knew him 
as a bright, gentlemanly young fellow. His body was 
found about four miles below here on the river's edge, 
and interred in the Decatur cemetery. 

On April 3, 1870, David Hart, William Fitser, and 
Elmer Blake became victims of the treacherous Mis- 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 6l 

souri. Blake, working for F. D. Wilson, on the other 
side of the river, came over after the other two men. 
It was a windy day and the waves were high. The 
crossing was attempted just below Decatur and the 
boys had got about half way over when the boat tipped 
bottom side up. This did not discourage them, how- 
ever, and they all climbed on top. The boat tipped 
again, and this time only two men climbed on. An- 
other revolution of the boat and only one man ap- 
peared ; a little farther down the river the skiff rolled 
again, and this time anxious watchers from the river 
banks could discern nothing. The human freight was 
unloaded and an empty hull rode the rough bosom of 
a passive stream to an involuntary destination. 

In the early summer of 1874, while crossing the 
river. Nelson Oakley was tipped out of a boat; how, 
was never known, and drowned while swimming to 
shore. He passed the ferry boat which had just 
started for the Iowa side. Sam Smith, an employe, 
called out if he could make it, and Oakley looking back 
over his shoulder laughed, made a reply, and went 
down. Sam jumped, but it was too late — Oakley was 
never seen again. 

In the summer of 1895, Charlie Philips, a Decatur 
boy about 16 years old, lost his life by drowning, near 
the mouth of Wood Creek. He was bathinsf with a 



62 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

host of youthfiiJ companions, got beyond his depth, 
and went down. The body was recovered by Lafe 
Cronk, the search for Philhps lasting about half an 
hour. Dr. Ross attempted a resurrection, but the ef- 
fort was fruitless. The remains were interred iii the 
Decatur cemetery. 

The Episcopal Chapel of Decatur was built in 1862, 
and the first church of that denomination erected in 
the diocese and the state. Rev. Batt was the pastor, 
and remained liere about two years, boarding with 
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ashley. He was a married man. 
The membership while not large is an earnest and en- 
ergetic one, and a gradual increase has been mani- 
fested on the enrollment record for the past three 
years. The members of this church recently built a 
new church, design from Chicago architect; cost, 
about $1,200. 

In 1 86 1, Mr. and Mrs. Robt. Ashley moved down 
from Dakota City, and their first notable work shortly 
after their arrival was the organization of a Methodist 
Sunday School. Previous to this time. Rev. Asbury 
of Dakota City came down every two weeks and held 
services. The growth of the Methodist Church has 
been rapid and very prolific, and its enrollment of 
membership the largest of any denomination in the 
village. In the summer of 1889 the present hand- 



REMIxXISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. Gt, 

some edifice was erected, costing $1,767.81 — private 
donations and I)}- those interested in chnrcli organiza- 
tion. 

Tlie Presbyterian Clnnxh. which was abandoned in 
1888, was 1milt in the year of 1871, through the in- 
strunientaHty of Dr. John M. Peebles, a residing 
Presbyterian minister of Decatur. In 1870 he at- 
tended the General Assembly at Baltimore. Maryland, 
and received at this religion conventicle a contribution 
of $500 for a church at Decatur and Lyons. On his 
way home he purchased the lumber for both churches 
at Chicago. A number of private donations were pre- 
sented, and Mr. Wm. Thaw, of Philadelphia, was a 
liberal contributor. In the fall of 1871 a public supper 
was given for the church, the proceeds to go t(nvard 
paying for the plastering of the church. Dr. Peebles 
was its pastor for ten years and then resigned on ac- 
count of his health. Dr. Sloan succeeded him, follow- 
ed by Rev. Griswall — one year each. Rev. William 
Hamilton also occupied the pulpit one year. 

The German Baptist Church was built in the fall of 
1893, costing $800, and the money secured by local 
private donations. Rev. Galib Light is the resident 
minister; his home on a farm eight miles west and 
south of town. The membership is limited, but solid, 
and devotional services arc held about once a month. 



64 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

The Catholic Church, standing where it does today, 
was moved there in 1880, from the river bank, and 
previous to the purchase was built by a Sioux City 
company for a warehouse. The money which pur- 
chased the building was willed to the Catholics of this 
community by John Henry, an old soldier, better 
known as "Jol^i^ny Smoker." He took as a home- 
stead the farm where John Eddy Coneally lives now, 
and sold it to him. There was a $700 payment due on 
the place and Henry made a will in favor of the Cath- 
olics, appointing C. C. Dunn administrator. Was 
thrown from a horse and the injuries received killed 
him. The parish priest is Father Crowley, his resi- 
dence Bancroft, and the members are principally out- 
of-town people. 

One of the most prominent events of the year of 
1864, was the birth of a little town, over the river, 
where Hardy's farm is now, called Tieville. It was 
a wood-choppers' settlement, consisting of about 250 
inhabitants, no stores, and a postoffice. The man who 
established it was Robt. Moore, an Irishman, from 
Boston, Mass., and through the influence of his wife's 
relatives, awarded the contract for furnishing ties for 
the Union Pacific railroad, to be delivered at Omaha. 
The first move Moore made was the purchase of 320 
acres of Monona county timber land bordering the 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 65 

river, and the next to employ all the men he could 
to cut it. The continuation of his contract lasted for 
three successive years, '65, '66, and '67. Moore be- 
came immensely wealthy and after the close of his 
business in Iowa resided in Decatur. Went to New- 
hampshire in the summer of 1878, and now has a 
handsome home on the sea coast. He left his lumber 
business in the hands of Al. Abbot, now of Pender; 
and W. S. Page closed out his real estate, the last 
batch being- the townsite of Tieville, sold to Michael 
Vincent, of Onawa, for $4,000. 

In those days it was gay and lively on both sides of 
the river. In the evenings when the boats came in the 
Tieville boys and girls would go down and dance on 
the decks. Captain La Barge of the Emily La Barge, 
a fine side wheel steamer, carried the most of Moore's 
stuff to Omaha. This boat also made trips from St. 
Louis to Fort Benton. A stern wheeler, the Dear- 
lodge, also freighted ties and cordwood to Omaha for 
Moore. Captain Horn was in charge; its crew, 
negros. John Lewis, now a resident of Decatur, was 
one of the supervisors of the loading of these boats. 
Captain La Barge told him in the summer of '66 for 
two trips his profits were $150,000; one to Fort Ben- 
ton, and the other to Berthal, Missouri river towns in 
North Dakota. The same year, the Cora, a fine stern 



66 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

wheel steamer, made a run from St. Louis to P'ort 
Benton, going up loaded with a government consign- 
ment, and coming back with furs. It is the only boat, 
with St. Louis as a starting point, that made two trips 
in one season, going as far as l^'ort Benton. 

Tieville was commonly called ''Shanty Town." 
When Moore left the town left. Its postmaster was 
David Fiscus, and its school teachers, Mattie and 
Susan Lewis, the latter now the wife of Geo. J. White, 
of Decatur. The inhabitants bought their provisions 
in Decatur and when Moore closed out his tie, lumber 
and wood business, many of them moved over here 
Religious meetings were held there occasionally, con- 
ducted by James Veil, a Methodist preacher, who after- 
wards became cjuite prominent. He was a bright fel- 
low and during the week days worked along with the 
other boys in the woods, cutting ties and getting out 
logs. Came down the river in a flat boat from a point 
in Montana. Jack Lewis has played many a game of 
cribbage with Veil. He remained in Tieville two 
years and then went to Dakota. Even the townsite 
of Tieville is gone now, washed away by the river, 
and notliing remains to tell the story that once here 
stood a thriving little village of the sixties. 

Kit Carson is one of those veteran pioneers of the 
West known by all American people and his name 



KEMIXISCEXCKS OF NEBRASKA. 6/ 

shall forever be venerated. As much as has been said 
about this beloved man, there still remains a very im- 
portant romance of him, which up to this time has 
remained unprinted. In a very early day Carson tired 
of the wilderness of Iowa, and keen for new adven- 
tures, crossed the I\Iissouri and pitched his camp in an 
Omaha Indian village, situated then where the famous 
village of Bellevue is now. There was also a small 
white settlement here, but its numbers were few, yet 
the men who made it lived afterwards to become im- 
mortal characters in the history of Nebraska. There 
was Lucian Fontenelle, an Indian trader, and in the 
employ of the North American Fur Company; Peter 
Sarpy, a clerk for the same company; Stephen De- 
catur, Clement Lambert, and Mr. Hamilton and Kin- 
ney, Presbyterian missionaries. This was in the early 
'40's, and a white woman was an unknown quantity. 
When Kit Carson arrived he was hailed with delight 
and soon became warm friends of the boys, for they 
were all young men then. One evening when they 
were gathered around the cheerful fireplace of the 
log-hut where Fontenelle lived and transacted busi- 
ness, smoking their pipes, Sarpy jokingly remarked: 
"Kit, why don't you get married?'' "Well, to speak 
the truth. Pete," retorted the young trapper, 'T believe 
I will if I can get iNIoneta (a young and pretty Indian 



68 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

girl) to agree with me on a mutual understanding." 
The boys all laughed good-naturedly at Kit's earnest- 
ness, but nothing more was thought of it until a few 
days later Carson surprised them with the remark, 
"Well, boys, I was tied up this afternoon and Moneta 
is the mistress of my tent." The pipe of peace was 
smoked, of course, and an extra piece of venison 
cooked for supper that night. Kit was kind to his 
wdfe and they appeared to be very happy. Nebraska 
in those days was a very wild country and a skirmish 
between two war-like tribes of Indians a frequent oc- 
currence. The Omahas and Sioux were never very 
friendly, and one pretty fall day when some scouts 
reported to their chiefs that Dakotahs (the Sioux) 
were hiding in the neighborhood to steal ponies and 
kill wcmien and children, it did not surprise any one 
in camp, and that evening the report was confirmed 
when the story was told that Fontenelle's wife had 
killed a Sioux with an ax wdiile he w^as in the act of 
sticking a knife in her baby, and that she had wounded 
another wdiile making his escape through a window- 
covered with a buffalo hide. The attack wdiich must 
come placed the Omahas in a defenseless position for 
the most of the warriors w-ere on the Elkhorn valley 
hunting buffalo and elk. A council was held and Kit 
volunteered to face the dangers and notify the hunting 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 69 

party of the imminent peril which threatened to de- 
stroy their famihes and their villag-e. Kissing his 
wife "good-bye" and mounting his horse he rode away 
into the wilderness of the north. This was their fare- 
well parting and they never met again. Kit arrived 
safe in the Elkhorn valley camp, told the Omahas of 
their danger and then rode away again, following a 
trail which led toward the mountains of the west. 
Young Henry Fontenelle, a mere boy, mounted a horse 
and rode as fast as the animal would carrv him for 
Bellevue to inform the people of the hunting party's 
return. He rode the horse until it dropped dead and 
then ran the rest of the way, a distance of sixty miles, 
and fell fainting at his mother's door. The Sioux de- 
layed their attack too long and the Omahas arrived in 
time to prevent the massacre and save their property. 
During Kit's life with his wife there was born to them 
a boy and a girl, said to be almost as fair as white 
children. Wdien the Omahas moved to their present 
home in '54. she and her children came with them, 
and for her somber and melancholy ways came to be 
known among her people as ''Old Granny." When 
between the ages of 10 and 12 years the boy and girl 
took sick and died. A few years afterwards the 
mother followed and her body was interred on the 
hill back of the house where Eugene Fontenelle lives 



/O STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

now. Mrs. Fontenelle was present at the funeral and 
remembers seeing Carson at Bellevue when she was a 
httle girl. This lady says every evening Granny 
would go forth to the top of a certain favorite high 
hill and shading her eyes with her hand, look long and 
earnestly toward the horizon of the west, as if trying 
to discern some object in the distance. If the woman's 
heart could have been mirrored perhaps it might have 
reflected the image of Kit: 

How true it is every time a man steps he puts his 
foot on a human grave. It is scarcely known by any- 
one that on the gradual incline of the hill near the 
Burt county poor farm, which sweeps down toward 
Silver Creek, there lays the dust of a French desper- 
ado, who was murdered by the Indians in the infancy 
of the past century. On the banks of this creek close 
to the bluffs, many years before the entrance of the 
white man, the Meha Indians staked their tents and 
built their fires for the winter, for in those days the 
great Missouri Bottom teemed with the tramp of the 
buffalo and the wild chase of the timid deer. The im- 
passive stoic of the prairie was much surprised one 
evening by the arrival in camp of a pale face, riding 
in at a furious rate on a spirited mustang. His name 
was Pineau, and a fugitive from justice. The Indians 
o-ave him food and shelter and liefore the first moon 



REMIXISCEN'CES OF NEBRASKA. yi 

had gone by he was married into the tribe. The new- 
comer proved to be cruel and brutal, not only abusing 
his wife in the most shameful manner, but also all the 
little children of the village. His atrocious acts be- 
came so manifest and intolerable that a council was 
held and a judgment rendered that he must either 
leave the village or suffer death. When Pineau heard 
of this he flew into a furious passion and attacked 
his interpreter with a knife. White Eagle, one of the 
chiefs, standing by, gleaning the mad man's foul in- 
tentions, raised his war club and struck him a ter- 
rific blow over the head. It crushed the man's skull 
and he fell dead at White Eagle's feet. The Indians 
named the creek after- the Frenchman, and for many 
years it was known as Pineau River; in those days be- 
ing a much larger stream of water than it is now. 



CHAPTER FIVE. 

ANCIENT NEBRASKA CORONADO's INVASION AND THE 

SEVEN CITIES OF GOLD LOUISIANA TERRITORY 

FRANCIS DEROIN IN 1808 AND SARPy's FIRST AP- 
PEARANCE DELONG' EXPEDITION INDIAN AGENCY 

ESTABLISHED AT BELLEVUE OLD FORT ATKINSON 

AND THE FAMOUS COUNCIL BLUFFS EMIGRATION 

OF THE MORMONS, AND THE BIRTH OF MILLER'S 
HOLLOW EARLY DAYS OF OMAHA, AND THE IN- 
DIAN WAR. 

Nebraska is an Indian word signifying "wliite 
water," and Missouri, the name of the river that 
brushes our state on its east bank, is also an Indian 
word, signifying "muddy stream." Beginning with 
the river and foHowing a westardly course that reaches 
a central line crossing our country, the typography is 
principally made up of rolling hills and broad, fertile 
valleys, but from this point as it gradually inclines 
farther west, emerges into a huge sand plateau or 
basin. As an agricultural country, for its splendid 
capabilities, its eastern portion cannot be surpassed, 
and the western division could not be better supplied 
or adapted for successful stock raising. The state is 
well supplied with water by running streams and on 



KliMIXISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. J2> 

their l)anks flourish the walnut, ehn. oak, liickory, cot- 
tonwoocl. ash, box elder and a few other varieties of 
trees. On the bottom lands wild strawberries grow in 
abundance, and in the gulches and on sheltered hilltops 
in generous confusion will be found delicious plum 
fruit, hazlenuts, wild cherry, mulberries and grapes. 
Flowers grow in reckless profusion and when the sea- 
son has been favorable oftentimes the broad valleys 
and wide i)rairie lands represent a sea of smiling roses. 
Before the advent of the whiteman buffalos ran at 
large, also the deer, elk, and many other animals. In 
the morning could be heard the gobble of the turkey 
and in the evening the cooing of the wild dove and the 
timid squacks of ducks and geese. But great changes 
have taken place and the old has made room for the 
new, hence the task of presenting this work to the 
public. 

Archaeologists say on dwarfty hills and in certain 
valleys throughout Nebraska a close observer will dis- 
cern a peculiar and dim circular indention in the 
ground, the diameter of which is perhaps 20 to 30 
feet. Measuring to a direct center point and digging 
down, the investigation will disclose a defunct fire- 
place, broken pieces of pottery and odd eating tools 
and war implements. These evidences go to show, 
they say, a race of people not in existence now, inhab- 



74 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

ited this CL'untry prior to the advent of the Indian. 
Putting this and that together and other connecting 
links picked up here and there from Old Mexico to' 
Canada, biologists have been led into the belief, a long- 
time ago, a colony of mandarins or Chinese, crossed 
the isthmus near Alaska and invaded this country for 
the purpose of making it their home. It may be, too, 
at one time the two hemispheres were joined together 
by a narrow strip of land, but through some violent 
or phenomenal convulsion of the earth, a body of 
water arose and separated them. Among some of the 
lost tribes of the races of people are the cliff dwellers 
and the mound villagers; therefore it is but small won- 
der, with the facts staring you in the face, Nebraska 
should represent a mammoth masoleum under whose 
surface lies at rest races of people that long ago played 
their parts in the annals of the world. 

The marvelous invasions recorded by historians of 
Spanish cavaliers into this country, highly embellished, 
when stripped of their finery and exposed in the plain 
robes- of naked truth, are really nothing more than 
very matter of fact affairs. 

Fabulous legends are recorded of "Stephen the 
Moor," "Coronado the Brilliant," and a few others 
that have been lauded to the grandest heights of beau- 
tiful imao-erv — all in search of the seven cities of 



RExMIxNISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 75 

Cibola and the land of Qiiivera — tempting the legends 
which were woven into charming bits of delightful 
enchantment, and courteously proffered to invaders of 
the Gulf coast and before the polished courts of Spain, 
It was told the houses of the seven cities were made of 
gold and silver and the streets inlaid with precious 
stones; that there the fountain of life bubbled forth 
and all Vvdio drank thereof would live forever. In an 
age of superstition it was easy for the people to believe 
such things, and hundreds of adventurers flocked to 
America in search of the promised land and the seven 
cities, which in truth were nothing more than seven 
very common Indian villages. Foremost among these 
explorers, who seduced women, murdered innocent 
men and burned villages that gave to them homage 
in their long search and march for golden wealth, was 
Coronado, who discovered the land of Ouivera, in the 
southern portion of Nebraska on the banks of the 
Platte river, which proved to be nothing more than 
an ordinary Indiaft village, for its chief a venerable 
old Indian, Tartarrax, who greeted the invaders 
kindly. 

Coronado, in a fit of disgust, hanged the luan who 
had acted as his guide in leading him to this place, 
where he expected to find crosses of gold, crowns set 



76 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

in precious jewels, and countless wealth; and thus 
virtually ended the delusive hunt for the mythical 
cities. 

On February 15th, 1764, La Clede's company lo- 
cated on the present site of St. Louis and named the 
town, and two years afterward Spanish troops t-ok 
possession in the name of the king. The victorious 
conquests of Napoleon in Europe against Spain soon 
caused that country to evacuate, and again the Terri- 
tory of Louisiana reverted back to the French, and on 
April 30th, 1803, that great general ceded the territory 
to the United States, and on October 31st in the same 
year a temporary government was organized. 

By an act of congress. June 14, 1812, the name was 
changed, calling it "Missouri Territory." providing 
the vast country with a governor, secretary, council 
and house of representatives, the judicial power being 
invested in a superior court, the judges appointed by 
the president. 

1819 Major Long started from Pittsburg in his ex- 
pedition to the west under orders of John C. Calhoun, 
secretary of war, the object of the trip to determine 
the typography of this then unexplored country. Long 
navigated the Platte, counseled with the Indian tribes, 
effected treaties of peace, and visited Fort Sage, situ- 
ated fiftv miles below Kansas River, at that time the 



RHMIXISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. yy 

last frontier on the settlement going west. Five miles 
below Council Bluffs, on the Nebraska side of the 
river, he found Samuel Lisa, manager of a trading 
post at this point in the interest of the Missouri fur 
company. Here Long and his party built cabins and 
wintered one season. Long's daring skill in this ex- 
pedition was noteworthy and historically important, 
his investigations covering the greater part of the Mis- 
souri Valley and extending to the Rocky mountains. 
His report to the government was concise and useful, 
and shortly after his return, Arkansas Territory was 
created, and on March 2nd, 182 1, Missouri admitted 
as a state. 

1822 W'm. H. Ashley, representing the Rocky 
Mountain Fur Company, ascended the Missouri to the 
mouth of the Yellowstone, but it proved a disastrous 
trip, and through accident, deceit, and warring with 
the Lidians, he lost about a fourth of his men, and ac- 
complished but little, besides experiencing other diffi- 
culties. 

December 30th, 1825, the Kansas Indians ceded a 
large tract of land to the United States, thus opening 
new territory for more settlers, and on May 22nd, 
1842, John C. Fremont started out from St. Louis, 
employed by the go\'ernment, to explore the western 
country; Kit Carson, the famous trapper and guide, 



7° STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

accompanying- him. Fremont's course carried him 
directly across Nebraska, and his report, now a part 
of the Hbrary of congress, afforded valuable informa- 
tion for an intelligent opening of our state, which was 
ceded to the United States by the Indians in 1854. 

The first permanent settlement in the wilderness of 
Nebraska occurred on the banks of the Missouri River 
near where the village of Bellevue now stands — in the 
form of a frontier trading post, property of the Mis- 
souri Fur Company, and in charge of Francis Deroin, 
a fearless and ambitious Frenchman, about the year 
1808. Deroin was succeeded by another Frenchman 
named Reaubadeux, and in 1824, Peter A. Sarpy was 
installed as manager. But even prior to this date it 
has been handed down from records given by Indians, 
that the white man invaded their 'country west of the 
river, but what their names may have been still re- 
mains a seci«et. One year prior to Sarpy's advent, an 
Indian agency was established at Bellevue, by consent 
of the government, which was used as a general depot 
of supplies for trappers, traders, scouts, adventurers, 
and for the deeper motive of disseminating the prin- 
ciples of peace among the natives and also with a view 
to the future opening up of that wild and uninhabited 
territory. This agency was removed from Fort At- 
kinson, a military post about thirty miles up the river, 



KEIMIXISCENXES OF XE]JRASKA. 79 

representing the site upon which Lewis and Clark 
made their famous negotiations of peace in the year of 
1803 with the Meha Indians — known in histor}' as the 
"Council Bluffs," a high hill overlooking the Mis- 
souri — where they sat in meditation and smoked the 
pipe of peace with the uncivilized red man. Most of 
the whitemen in these days intermarried with the na- 
tives, as a white woman was an unknown quantity, 
and among some of these were Sarpy, Deroin, Fonte- 
nelle, Kit Carson and Reaubadeux. 

In 1846 the Presbyterian Mission Board of New 
York City secured enough ground for a mission site 
and thereupon built a rough log school house for "the 
purpose of inculcating into the hearts and minds of 
the Indian children the principles of education and 
the ethics of religion. The school was under the super- 
vision of Rev. Ed. ]\IcKinney, assisted by Wm. Ham- 
ilton, who afterwards became the superintendent. 
Even before the year of 1844, however, an Indian mis- 
sion had been erected on Council Creek, a tributary 
of the Platte, conducted by Rev. Dunbar and Rev. 
Ellis, both, owing to hostile treatment received at the 
hands of the vSioux, for safety of their lives, compelled 
to abandon their religious work, and fled to Bellevue 
for refuge and protection, and entered into the mis- 
sionary work at this settlement. 



So STORY CF AN OLD TOWN. 

In 1847, t'''^ Mormons with Brigham Young as 
their leader, crossed the Missouri River at Bellevue — 
penniless and near starvation's door — on their long 
and weary march to the "new promised land" of the 
far west. Sarpy crossed them free of charge with his 
ferryhoat, and sustained them through several severe 
winter months with fuel and provisions. His gener- 
osity has not been forgotten, and to this day in certain 
seclusive camps of the Mormons in Utah, the name 
of Peter Sarpy is remembered and revered, and they 
look back upon him as a patron saint sent by God to 
meet them by the wayside at that time, during their 
memorable march, to succor and aid them, in that dark 
hour of dire trouble and sore need. 

The first marriage in Bellevue was that of Louis 
Saunsici, a half breed Omaha, to a Mormon woman, 
whom he soon deserted for the more effete compan- 
ionship of an Indian girl with whom he had become 
enamored. His legal wife, disgusted and discouraged, 
migrated to Salt Lake City, where she enrolled her 
wounded and discarded affections to that already long 
list of the pious and polygamist prophet, Brigham 
Young. 

In 1843 that famous historical and daring explorer, 
Gen. Fremont, returned from his geographical investi- 
gations of the west, stopping over for a few^ days at 



REMINISCENCES OF NEP.KASKA. 8l 

Bellevue, where he sold his overland outfit, proceeding 
to St. Louis by boat down the river. 

In 1852, Bellevue was organized and known as the 
"Old Town Company." In 1854 it was reorganized 
and in 1856 incor]:)orated, with Reuben Lovejoy as its 
hrst mayor. That same year the mission reserve was 
incorporated, its site a section of land, and the Fon- 
tenelle bank opened its doors for a legitimate busi- 
ness. 

The year of 1854, J. Sterling Morton, a young re- 
porter from Detroit, arrived in Bellevue, a man with a 
brilliant mind, that has accomplished much good for 
Nebraska, and who has filled some of the highest 
offices in the land. The first Masonic order organized 
in the Territory was at Bellevue, March, 1854. Ne- 
braska Lodge No. I, L. B. McKinney, worshipful 
master. 

The first murder trial in Nebraska by procedure of 
law was that of Dr. Henry for the killing of George 
Hollister, the court convening in the village of Omaha. 
Hollister was a young farmer and he and Henry quar- 
reled in regard to the ownership of some land. Tlie 
slayer was confined to the village blacksmith shop at 
Bellevue and the deceased accorded a respectable burial. 
A government steamer arrived during the trouble, its 
cargo a company of eight soldiers, afflicted with the 



82 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

cholera. Henry, the only medico in the settlement, 
was released during the day and at night escorted back 
to his temporary prison house. On first trial he was 
convicted, but in the seccnid recei\'ed his freedom, after 
which he lived long, and 1)ccame a useful and prom- 
inent citizen. 

In 1844, the ]\L:)rmons settled at Norvoo, Illinois, 
in large numbers, were expelled from the state, and 
to seek a new home, migrated west, crossed the Mis- 
souri River, and located in what is now Douglas 
county. The inhabitants aggregated rapidly, and be- 
fore the year was gone, a population of 15,000 had 
been acquired. The new Cramers cut down large tracts 
of timber for fuel and building purposes, these depre- 
dations angering the Indians very much, and com- 
plaining to their agent, again the Mormons were ex- 
pelled and driven away from a new home where they 
did not expect to be molested. Alany of the sect went 
back east, some down into Missouri but a large band, 
under the leadership of Miller, an imposing and prom- 
inent prophet of this people, went over into the bluffs 
east of Kanesville, and lost themselves, naming their 
settlement, "Miller's Hollow," where it is said many 
strange and mysterious things took place in those 
days. • Here the Mormons built a rude tabernacle, 
h"ved in dug-outs and log cabins and tilled the soil. 



KKMINISCEXCES OF .\1-:BRASI<A. 83 

assuming the right of possession under the title of a 
"squatter's claim." 

In 185 1 a spirit of discontent found its way among 
this seclusive sect, however, and then began their great 
march to the "new promised land"; and the deserted 
settlement became a mass of thrifty weeds and rank 
grasses. 

In 1853, a Mr. Brown, Dr. Enos Lowe, Jesse Wil- 
liams, and Wm. D. Brown of Kanesville, crossed the 
river in a ferryljoat to inspect the ]M-esent site of the 
city of Omaha, and favorably impressed, later they 
organized themselves nito a ferry company, purchased 
a boat, and began business on a limited and cautious 
scale. The ferry made several successful trips, but in 
the spring of '55 the high water threw it upnn the 
banks, where it remained — a thing of the past. Mr. 
Jones, a persevering and an ambitious pioneer, secured 
the postmastership, carrying the mail in his hat and 
pockets, but fearful of the responsibilities, shifted the 
burdens on the shoulders of a Mormon, named Frank, 
who accepted the commission and kept the mail in a 
bushel basket. Frank built himself a small house and 
established his home as the village postoffice. 

In spite of the fact that this country had not yet 
been ceded to the government by the Indians, a small 
body of men came and sciuatted on the land, the in- 



84 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

trusion being objected to strongly by tbe Indians. Tbe 
suspense was of short duration, however, and in '55 
Avhen the treat}' was ratified, a general influx was pre- 
valent, and Omaha's growth rapid and progressive. 

Mr. Johnson, one of the brave little settlers before 
the opening, defiantly represented himself as a mer- 
chant, blacksmith, and editor; Seeley, a carpenter; and 
\Villiam Clarncey publicly conducted a grocery. After 
the passag-e of the bill admitting Nebraska as a terri- 
tory, the town was laid out, and Enos Lowe elected 
president, this gentleman naming the town "Omaha," 
an Indian word, which means ''above the water." 

The first and only sermon preached in the year of 
1854 was by Rev. Isaac Cooper, from across the river, 
the service house, a 16-foot room, representing the 
humble home of Alexander Davis; the congregation 
numbering less than twenty. There was no collection 
taken up, "Old Hundred" was sang, and text of the 
sermon forgotten shortly after it had been announced. 
An eminent character to arrive in 1855 was Dr. George 
Miller, a man of intelligence and benevolence, who has 
lived to become a prominent public character in the his- 
tory of Nebraska. Dr. Miller was editor of the Herald 
for many years, and his efforts have ahvays been for 
the best welfare of the people and his country. A 
writer in picturing the excitement over the capitol 



KEMIXISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 85 

(itiestion says: "The lobbies were once crowded with 
respective parties to the contest, armed with bludgeons, 
brickbats and pistols, and a fight was thought to be 
imminent — but it didn't occur." In another place ho 
says : "Any refractory member opposed to Omaha as 
the seat of government who refused to be seated when 
so ordered by the speaker was forcibly notified that 
if he didn't sit down he would be knocked down, the 
result of which was usually satisfactory to the 
speaker.'' The contestants for the capitol were Flor- 
ence, Bellevue, Plattsmouth, Nebraska City, and 
Omaha, the contest representing a very heated con- 
troversy, in which wild chaos and intense excitement 
ran at large. But Omaha was the proud victor and 
she enjoyed her spoils hugely, until the commonwealth 
demanded retribution, and plucked the juicy plum to 
plant it in the fertile soil of Lincoln. 

January, 1867, the Northwestern railroad crossed 
the river on a pile bridge for the first time, to greet the 
happy and enthusiastic citizens of Omaha. The fol- 
lowing month l)y an act of congress the seat of gov- 
ernment was taken away from the city, but the loss 
did no injury to her growth, for today Omaha is one 
of the great metropolises of the west. Her population 
then was about 15,000, now it can be counted very 
close to half a million. 



86 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

Perhaps the most atrocious acts committed in pio- 
neer days and which will always leave a dark stain 
of disgrace upon the bright pages of Xe1:)raska's his- 
tory were those of the notorious claim clubs of Omaha. 
The Doc Smith. Calnon, and JM-irphy affairs can 
ne\-er be covered up, hard as some writers have tried 
to whitewash these shameful and disgraceful inci- 
dents. It is well remembered e\en by settlers who live 
yet, how Murphy was almost choked to death and com- 
pelled to sign away his right to i6o acres of land; and 
how Calnon was ducked in the river and then marched 
to the land office at the point of a pistol, and forced 
to put his signature to a paper that made him a pauper, 
and when he moved up in Burt county a short time 
after, died there from the effects of the bath which 
he received in the Missouri. Too many witnesses live 
for these facts to be denied gracefully. The killing 
of Hollister was another incident, and the cold-blooded 
murder of an honest man in Covington in 1856. The 
accounts related here represent but a small part c f the 
depredations committed by these claim clubs. 

In the fall of 1864 culminated a spirit of ho'stilities 
])erpetrated upcni the whites by the Cheyennes and the 
warlike Sioux. It is claimed Major O'Brian, an im- 
pertinent officer stationed at Fort McPherson, near 
Cottonwood Si«"ings. contriljuted much towards this 



REMINlSCliNCES OF NEBRASKA. 87 

outbreak of the Indians, by l)ein^- vevy unkind to them, 
and in their friendly visits to the fort, he would rough- 
ly order theni away. Profligate white men stole their 
ponies, disturbed their peaceful hunting camps, and 
comniitted other (lei)redations, and the Indians having 
no recourse, resolved upon war as their only means for 
redress. The killing- of two wliite men on a ranch in 
Colorado heralded the l)eginning of tlie troubles, their 
deaths attributed to the Cheyennes. and an attack wa> 
made upon their tribe by a posse of cattlemen and set- 
tlers, a number (,f Cheyennes being killed. This only 
served to sharpen their appetite of hatred for the 
whites, and from that time on, continuous attacks were 
made on travellers crossing the plains, stage routes, 
and small settlements, l)y the Cheyennes and the 
Sioux, who were thoroughly hostile now, and eager 
for the warpath. The first indication of a general out- 
break that smacked of a spirit of real war, took place 
at Plum Creek, August 8th, 1864, when a wagon train 
was captured and the occupants massacred. Fortun- 
ately the telegraph lines were not molested and the 
fearful news was flashed across the entire country. 
People from everywhere fled to the forts for protec- 
tion, but before an organized defense had been pre- 
pared, many emigrants and settlers were murdered, 
women rmd children as well as men. .\t Tekamah a 



88 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

company of twenty-two men was organized with B. 
R. Folsom' as their captain, appointed by Governor 
Saunders. Similar organizations were effected all over 
the country, but in spite of this precaution and uni- 
form defense, many innocent people were killed and 
scalped. In September, 1864, near Cottonwood 
Springs, a party of laborers at work on a farm adjoin- 
ing Hinman's place, were surprised and slain; also a 
squad of soldiers under command of Captain Mitchell, 
while picking wild plums on the bluffs near the fort, 
were routed unexpectedly and many of them killed. 
the attack was so sudden. It is said that Spotted Tail, 
the famous fighting chief of the Sioux, was the leader 
of this warring party. As a result of these troubles, 
which w^as due to the danger of transportation, the 
cost of provisions ran up to an enormously high price 
— meat selling for twenty cents a pound, coffee a dol- 
lar, flour ten to twenty dollars a hundred, and hay sold 
for $40 a ton. The Indian war lasted for five years, 
during which time much innocent blood was spilled, 
and in central and western Nebraska untold misery 
and suffering prevailed. Once a freight train was at- 
tacked, captured and burned up, and in order for the 
occupants to escape they were compelled to run a 
gauntlet of death. 

1867, by invitation, all Indian chiefs wdio had taken 



RKMIXISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 89 

part in the hostile rebelHon, met at North Platte to 
. confer with a United States commission sent out to 
negotiate with the Indians for a treaty of peace. The 
chiefs were highly entertained, feasted, ladened with 
presents, and effusively flattered, and the commission- 
ers went home satisfied the council had been a success 
and that peace was again restored to the disabled west. 
But, alas! for their houyant confidence — the old sores 
soon broke out again, and matters grew from bad to 
worse. Major Frank North, commander of 300 gal- 
lant Pawnees, did nuich toward bringing the war to a 
close and many a time did he and his fearless braves 
ride to a victorious encounter wath the Sioux — a tribe 
of Indians the Pawnees considered their W'Orst enemies. 
Col. Carr, in command of a troop of U. S. regulars, 
also took a prominent part in the suppression of the 
outbreak, and last but not least, was Wm. Cody ( Buf- 
falo Bill), the leader of a daring squad of government 
scouts. j\Iost of the engagements took place in the 
Republican Valley. The trail occupied much time, 
but eventually the Sioux were discovered by some 
Pawnee scouts. The Dakotas, about 2,500 strong. 
were surprised on a sand hill on their way to the 
Platte, and in hopes of disconcerting the enemy, fled 
in small bands in all directions. The United States 
troops scattered also and followed, and a few davs 



90 STORY OF AN Ol.L) TOWN. 

afterwards a part}- of 600 Sioux were surprised on the 
borders of the Platte, and an attack was made simul- 
taneously from Ix.th sides, and in this l)attle. under 
the leadership of Buffalo Bill, many of the Indians 
were killed. On July nth, 1869, Gen. Carr, with his 
entire command, fought a battle with the Sioux at 
Summit Si)rings. The struggle was short but com- 
plete, a few soldiers and Pawnees being killed. l)ut on 
the other side iner 600 Sioux fell, victims of American 
bullets. 

Tall Bull and other ])rominent chiefs were killed 
in this battle and their deaths and the terrible defeat, 
discouraged and disheartened the hostile tribes, and 
they returned to their homes. The decisive victory 
of Summit Springs practically ended the Indian trou- 
bles, although many minor skirmishes took place 
afterwards. 




CHAPTER SIX. 

DAKOTA COUNTY IX ITS IXFAXCV V.UiTll AXD DECLINE 

OF OMADI ITS FIRST SETTLERS PIOXEER RECOL- 
LECTIONS OF COVIXGTOX DEATH OF MRS. REAM 

-VXD OTHER FATALITIES UURT COL'XTV's PIONEERS 

INCORPORATION OF TEKAMAH, .VXD EARLV SET- 
TLERS STRUGGLE OF LANGE, SAXDWIG, LYDICK, AND 

OTHERS SETTLEMENT OF LOGAX \ALLEY IXCOR- 

POR.\TIOX OF OAKLAND AND LYONS REMINISCENCES 

OF THE TWO VILLAGES, UIOGRAPHIES AND THE MUR- 
DER OF MUNSON. 

Warner's history of Dakota county says: "On the 
first (lay of July, 1855, Oorge T. Woods, Armell, a 
Frenchman, and two Blackfeet Inchans crossed the 
river from Iowa, and went afoot to what is now known 
as the Col. H. Baird Bluffs, thence south a short dis- 
tance, and drove down the first claim stakes ever 
driven in Dakota county soil, and that Jesse Wigle. 
with his family, on the 19th day of August, same year, 
were the first to settle in the county." It further 
says: "The first settlers (^f Omadi, were Woods, C. 
A. Horr, and Moses Krepp, who crossed the river on 
Septemher ist, 1855, and Iniilt log cabins. The set- 
tlement grew ra])i(lly. a saw mill was ])ut in operation. 



92 STORY OF AN OLD TOWX. 

and native lumber sold for $30 a thousand feet; John 
Bay put up a log cabin store, and in '56, new settlers 
arrived. Then the town was laid out, and William 
McBeath opened a mercantile establishment, Abraham 
Hirsh started a hotel, followed soon afterwards by 
Henry Ream, who engaged in the same business. In 
'57 the population numbered over four hundred, and 
in the middle of April of this year, Miss Putman, from 
Sioux City, came down and taught the first school. 
A newspaper was launched, christened the "Enter- 
prise," owner and editor, George W. Rust; and a 
shingle mill was operated by Shull and Hartman. 

1857 a postoffice was granted and on March 22nd, 
1858, the first village election was held, and Rev, 
Smith was the pioneer missionary, conducting rel-'g- 
ious services in the school house. Omadi was situ- 
ated at the foot of what was known as Pilgrim's Hill, 
and manifested lively promises of becoming a great 
and thriving city some day. But, alas ! through the 
unkindness of fate, it was ordained otherwise, for in 
1862 the treacherous Missouri washed away a portion 
of the town, the banks continuing to crumble and 
tumble in from year to year, and the citizens, dis- 
couraged, moved away, and now all that remains of 
this once hopeful and prosperous village sleeps today 
under the broad bosom of an unmerciful river. 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 93 

'Mr. Warner continues as follows: ''.V plat of the 
town of Dakota City was filed for record September 
20th, 1856, by J. D. ]\I. Crockwell, and incorporated 
by the county commissioners April 5th, 1858. Cov- 
ingti-n was first taken as a townsite in 1856 by the 
old Sioux City company, of which Dr. John Cook was 
president, and christened Harney City. The townsite 
was jumped by another company and the name of the 
village changed to Newport, but before it was filed 
for record, February 4th, 1857, it was given the name 
of Covington and incorporated by the county commis- 
sioners, September ist, 1858. Gustave Pecaut was the 
first settler, building a log cabin and making this his 
home in 1854. The first child born was John Quin, 
1857; the first marriage, John Feenan to Margurette 
Boyle, and the first death, an old man who was found 
dead down near the river. The first sermon was de- 
livered by Rev. Thomas Chestnut of Sioux City, and 
the first school taught by ]Mary Pinkerton, 1857, in a 
little log sciiool house. John Fennen launched the first 
boat, a flat barge, to con\'ey passengers across the 
river; and in 1889, John ^loan and others built a pon- 
toon bridge at a cost of $20,000, opened to the public 
May i8th with spirited demonstrations of pleasure, in 
which thousands of people took part. The first news- 



94 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

paper in the town was established 1870, its name the 
"Covington News," proprietor and editor, B. L. North, 
and early as '57 the village enjoyed the privileges of a 
postoffice with Charles D. Martin as its initiatory con- 
ductor. 

In September, 1855, a band of Sioux Indians swept 
down upon, the little settlement of Omadi and stole 
everything the villagers had, even to their boat; but 
no one was injured. During the same summer three 
Ponca Indians entered the home of Henry Ream, liv- 
ing in the northAvestern part of Dakota county, and 
after ransacking his house, pulled his wife from her 
bed upon which she lay, seriously ill from childbirth. 
The lady died a few days after, as w^ell as the baby; 
and the Indians were captured and executed. 

The population of Dakota county in 1855 was 
eighty-six, in 1890, 5,599. Following is some of the 
crimes and casualties as given by Mr. Warner that 
have taken place in Dakota county : 

August, 1856, Moses Bacon, while crossing the 
river to Covington in a small boat, capsized, his skiff 
running upon a snag, and he was drowned. 

1857, John Fitzpatrick shot by George Grift'ey in a 
saloon at Covington. They were quarreling about a 
claim. 

William Tucker in the spring of '56 was killed in 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 95 

the Omadi saw mill by being caught in a l)elt and 
crushed to death while circling the fly wheel. 

Dominick Beilinski shot and killed Jim Harris, a 
Winnebago, January. 1878, whom he claimed was 
cutting a tree on Beilinski's claim. The murderer 
jumped his l)ail and was never heard of since. 

Emma Biggs jumped from a ferryboat into the 
river at Covington July, 1880, and was drowned. 

William Hull committed suicide in the winter of 
'81, going to a ravine southeast of Homer, where he 
shot himself. 

Mrs. Ludwig Kipper, despondent from ill health, 
cut her throat at her home near Homer, and died from 
the effects of her rash deed, August 25th. 1888. 

Michael Dorsey was shot and killed by Patrick Boyle 
at Jackson, February 5th,- 1880. Boyle established a 
plea of self-defense, and was cleared. 

The Homer State Bank was robbed of $1,500 on 
the night of October ist, 1891; no clew was secured 
of the robbers, however, although the count}- commis- 
sioners ofYered a reward of $200 for the arrest and 
conviction of the thieves. 

The first justice of the peace fur Omaha i)recinct 
was Samuel Smith, 1856, and in 1863 the name was 
changed to Dakota precinct. The first justice of the 



9^ STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

peace for Omadi precinct. 1857, was Alexander Ford, 
later followed by G. Lampson. 

Burt count}^ was christened in honor of Nebraska's 
first governor, Francis Burt. Its early settlers suffered 
many hardships, and in the winter of '55. when the 
big- snow storm came, two of the pioneers, F. E. 
Lange and Ernest Sandig, living at that time in a little 
shanty on what is know^n as Gillick's Bend; in the 
spring, when the high water came and the river over- 
flowed, they were cut off from all intercourse, and to 
save themselves from starvation subsisted on the car- 
cass of an ox that had froze to death, and also com- 
pelled to butcher and eat a pet dog as the last resort. 

The first election in Burt county took place in De- 
cember, 1854, in which B. R. Folsom was sent to the 
Territorial Council, and Gen. Robertson and H. C. 
Purple were sent to the House of Representatives. 
May i6th, '55, Folsom was appointed probate judge 
by Governor Cuming. 

The first election for county officers was held No- 
vember 6th, 1855, with the result as follows: Wm. 
Bates, probate judge; John Nevitt, sheriff'; Lewis 
Peterson, register, and Olney Harrington and Adam 
Olinger, justices of the peace. In 1876 the Chicago, 
St. Paul & Minneapolis railroad reached Tekamah and 
up to 1880 extended its tracks as far as Bancroft. 




Cliarles O. Frt'cmiin, Pioneer Schoolboy 
of Nebraska. 



REMINISCEXCKS OF XKJJRASKA. yj 

On April 19th, 1855, a permanent settlement was 
founded at Tekamali. ])y the following party of pio- 
neers: Pj. R. Folsom. Z. T. Wilder. John B. Folsom, 
Xiles R. Folsom, W. F. (i. .(hvill, and \\'. X. Byers, 
the latter g'entleman naming- the town, and \vh(j did 
not remain long. The year hefore the election the 
inhabitants of Burt county did not number but twen- 
ty-six. The town was incorporated Alarch 14th, 1855, 
and immediately became the county seat. Olney Har- 
rington was the first postmaster and Miles Chicot the 
first merchant. Some of the earliest pioneers of Te- 
kamah are as follows : W. W. and J. P. Latta, P. F. 
Peterson, George P. Thomas, Lsaac Gibson, Conger, 
Haywood, Robert Carr, E. Shaffer, John Driscoll. and 
many others. 

Folsom was a native of Germany; came to Burt 
county 1854 with others and laid out a claim of 640 
acres, now the city of Tekamah; engaged in farming, 
and with his brother conducted a saw mill on the 
Arizona Bottoms, first of its kind north of Omaha. 

Gibson, a native of Indiana, arrived in Tekamah in 
the spring of ^^j; purchased a grocery — the only one 
in the village; also bought a 540-acre farm; interested 
in real estate and live stock; probate judge 1863. 

^^■. W. Latta was born in Ashland county, Ohio, 
and made Burt county his home in July, 1857; his 



98 » STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

brother James came out a few years later. Both gen- 
tlemen prominent characters in the history of the coun- 
ty; progressive men; liow engaged in banking busi- 
ness and one of the largest stock raisers and farmers 
in eastern Nebraska. 

Peterson, an Illinois boy, went to California in 
1852 and located in Burt county in 1855; pre-empted 
160 acres; postmaster of Tekamah for several years; 
his daughter, Emma, first white child born in the 
county. 

George P. Thomas was born iji New York and m 
the fall of '55 arrived in Tekamah; located in the tim- 
ber and set up a steam saw mill he brought with him. 
which he operated successfully for one year, and then 
it was destroyed by fire; progressive farmer; built an 
elevator and later engaged in drug business; elected 
to the office of sheriff and served four years; also 
member of the first state legislature. 

Wm. B. Bieck, from Scotland, settled in Burt county 
in 1855, and entered into farming; represented Burt 
county in the Territorial legislature, 1855-56, and 
member of the senate in 1879. 

John L. Burpee, born in the state of Massachusetts, 
came to Nebraska in 1858; 1862 went to Pennsyl- 
vania and engaged in stave shingle and mill business; 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 99 

returned to Burt county, 1864. A successful and an 
ambitious farmer. 

H. C. Lydick, an Ohio boy, settled in Arizona 
precinct in 1856; locating- a claim of 160 acres upon 
which his residence stands now; 1862 enlisted in Com- 
pany B, Second Nevada cavalry, serving eleven 
months. In an early day, Mr. Lydick's home was a 
dug-out, and his principal occupation trading and sell- 
ing horses to the Indians and his neighbor settlers; 
now owns over a thousand acres and a prominent stock 
feeder and raiser of the county. 

P. L. Rork, a native of New York, is one of the 
foremost characters of Burt county; 1862 enlisted in 
Company C, Eleventh Michigan cavalry; upon being 
mustered out made his home in Arizona precinct; a 
fearless republican and an active member in county 
politics. 

M. M. Harney, from Jacksonville, Illinois, came to 
De Soto, 1857; enlisted in the Union army, serving 
eleven months; 1864 located in Arizona precinct; 
owns several hundred acres of land and one of the 
solid farmers of the county. 

J. H. Stork is a native of Prussia, Europe, and in 
the spring of 1856 made his home at Fontenelle, Ne- 
braska; 1863 enlisted in Company A, Second Nebraska 
cavalrv, serving eleven months; mairied Miss Michael, 



lOO STORY OF AX OLD TOWN. 

and the young couple settled on the Arizona Bottom 
in 1865; owns 520 acres and his improvements up-to- 
date and creditable. 

H. M. Spielman, of Arizona precinct, was b )rn in 
Blair county. Pennsylvania, and came to Burt county 
1857; pre-empted 160 acres, his possessions accru'ng 
until now he owns nearly 1,000 acres; an active mem- 
ber of the school board in his district. His brother 
Jesse located close to him in the same year and w av 
owns over i,oox) acres; also first treasurer of Bun 
county. Both brothers were actively engaged in the 
stock business for many years. 

Elisha McGuire, from Carroll county, Ohio, came 
to Iowa in '51, and drove stage; moved to Omaha in 
■58, and drove stage out of this city for two years; 
in i860 located on a farm in Arizona precinct; 1863 
enlisted in Company B, Second Nebraska. Mr. AIc- 
Guire is one of the oldest of the pioneers of the west 
living. 

A few other old settlers are as follows : Samuel Cor- 
nelius, from Pennsylvania, came to Tekamah in 1857; 
A. N. Corbin, from same state, in the fall of '56, set- 
tled in Burt county; John Fees, coming with his 
parents, and born March 2nd, 1856, in Tekamah, 
claims he was the first white boy born in the county; 
and M. L. Reyman, from Washington county, In- 



REMIXISCKNCES OF NEBRASKA. lOI 

cliana, locating- in Burt county. December, 1857. 

The hrst settler t(j locate upon the site which now 
represents the bustling little city of Oakland was Aaron 
Arlington and when the town was laid out and incor- 
tives of Pennsylvania, made this spot their home in 
ICS59. John Oak, from the eastern part of the county, 
went (n'er in 1862 and purchased the site from Mr. 
Arlington, who with his wife and four daughters, na- 
porated it was named in honor of Mr. Oak. Some ot 
the earlier pioneers to make this settlemeni their home 
were James .\skwig, Morrell, George Heales, and John 
S. Lemmon. The first store was opened by INIarks and 
Ross in 1870, and the first physician, Dr. Leeper, and 
the first lawyer, .\. B. Charde. Rev. Axling preached 
the first sermon, and the first school taught was by 
Miss Paulina Clark, in 1878. and its first and oldest 
newsi)aper. the 'Tndepcndent," established by George 
Brewster, October 1st, 1880. Beginning with a pop- 
ulation of six, the census of Oakland now will reach 
very close to the 1.500 mark. 

John S. Lemmon is one of tlie important early set- 
tlers of this town, although his home for the past few 
years has been in Thurston county. A native of In- 
diana, he came to Council Blufi:'s in 1854; removed to 
Fontenelle. where his father was running a saw mill, 
and worked for him until Tu. when he enlisted in the 



I02' STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

Union army. Taken prisoner near Atlanta, Georgia, 
1864, and a prisoner of war until the spring of 1865; 
1868 moved to Oakland on a farm, and remained there 
nntil the new town Pender was laid out, and then 
moved to that locality to battle with the gods of for- 
tune. Mr. Lemmon has been a leading character in 
the history of Thurston county. 

A. B. Charde. an eastern boy, came to Decatur in 
1875 and commenced the study of law with Watson 
Parish and completed his studies with F. M. Johnson 
in 1878; removed to Oakland and engaged in the law 
and real estate business. 

Watson Parish, an attorney and banker, was born 
in the state of Tennessee; he and Mr. James Ashley 
of Decatur opened the first bank in Oakland and when 
the war broke out enlisted in the Union army, serving 
four months. His first home in Nebraska was in De- 
catur, 1866; elected to the legislature 1869, and served 
an extra session; moved to Oakland shortly after it 
was incorporated; a few years ago went to California 
and made an immense fortune in real estate, but lately 
lost considerable of it through bad speculations. 

William E. Peebles, one of the early merchandise 
dealers of Oakland, was born in Elgin, Illinois; his 
father was a doctor of^medicine and a preacher of the 
gospel; 1867 came with his parents to Decatur, Ne- 



REMINISCKNCKS OF NKI'.RASKA. I03 

braska, and father and son conducted a drug and 
grocery store in the building now occupied by Mr. and 
Mrs. J. P. Page, who have converted it into a hrst- 
class hotel. Mv. Peebles was a man of ability, and it 
was through his influence, assisted by Henry Fon- 
tenelle, that Thurston county was organized. He was 
the founder of the village of Pender and had the town 
laid out, and built the famous brick hotel of that city 
at a cost of very near $40,000. Mr. Peebles died in 
the summer of 1900, at his handsome home in Pender. 

Ira Thomas is a native of New York state, and ar- 
rived in Tekamah, 1869; at one time editor and pro- 
prietor of the "Nebraska Advocate." One of the early 
settlers of Oakland and engaged in the grain business. 
Mr. Thomas is a straightforward democrat and one 
of the leading lawyers of the county. 

The first permanent settlers of Lyons were Waldo 
Lyon and Josiah Everett and his three brothers, locat- 
ing here in the latter part of the '6o's; also the Hart 
brothers, Peter McMullin, and in 1867, Levi Richard- 
son and his family moved over from Decatur. Mr. 
Lyons, running a saw mill down on the Arizona Bot- 
toms, sawed out a pile of lumber, moved it over on the 
Logan, built himself a house, pre-empted 160 acres, 
entered enough more to make out a section, and then 
laid out the town which bears his name. The first 



I04 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

cliild born in the settlement was a daughter of Pete 
AIcMulHn's. Rev. Peebles of Decatur preached the 
first sermon, and it was through his influence a Pres- 
byterian church was established and built in the vil- 
lage. Mr. Peebles bought most of the lumber in Chl- 
ciga and had it shipped out. 

The beautiful valley in which Lyons lays was 
named by the Ouincy colony in honor of Logan Fon- 
tenelle, a prominent leader of the Omaha Indians, who 
was a peaceful man and who showed the whites many 
favors and hospitalities, during their early entrance 
into this country. When Mr. Lyon laid out his vil- 
lage into town lots he inserted the following eccentric 
clause in each deed : That no intoxicants could be sold 
on the premises and in violation thereof the property to 
re\'ert back to him — and to this day Lyons is without 
a saloon. A few of the pioneers of Logan Valley and 
its neighborhood is given as follows : 

Waldo Lyons was born in Vermont and reared in 
Connecticut; 1843 moved to Wisconsin, and in the fall 
of '65 went to Omaha, where he engaged in the mer- 
chandise business for one vear, and then came to Ari- 
zona precinct, Burt countv, conducting a g"eneral store 
and operating a saw mill. It was in '69 that Mr. Lyon 
moved out on the Logan, and the year following he 
built the big- flour mill in the town of which he is the 




James Ashley 



KKMIXISCEXCES OF NEBRASKA. I05 

f -under. Elected to the state senate, and also a mem- 
ber of the first state constitutional convention. 

R. S. Hart and his brothers, James and Charles, are 
among the first settlers of Logan Valley, locating 
claims there in i<S65. emigrating from Wisconsin; 
]86i, Riley enlisted in Company B., Tenth Wisconsin 
cavalry, serving three years; fall of '8r, R. S. moved 
from his farm to Lyons and entered into the imple- 
ment business. He has the honor of having broke 
the first piece of prairie and turned the first sod where 
the village of Lyons now stands. 

Franklin Everett was born in Elaine, and came to 
Wisconsin, 1852, and in 1868 arrived in Burt county; 
occupation, banker, farmer and stock raiser, and large 
land owner — a landlord noted for his kindness and 
generosity to his renters; 1874 he opened up a general 
store in Lyons and was ajDpointed postmaster. The 
Everetts represent a large family, are wealthy, and 
prominent figures in western Burt county. 

Other pioneers of that neighborhood are : Joel Vea- 
ton. the Fiscuss families, Joe Smith, and Beal Barber. 
Mr. Comer was one of the first store-keepers of Lyons, 
also Freeland and AX'arner, John Freeland, a br ther 
residing in Decatur, hauling the firms merchandise 
over from Onawa, L'wa. The pioneers of Logan \'al- 
lev were never molested, but when tlie news was 



I06 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

brought to them of the killing of Munson by six Win- 
nebagoes, it alarmed and worried the settlers, and the 
report also awakened a feeling of horror and furious 
indignation in the hearts of the people, which swept 
over the entire country. Munson lived out on Plum 
Creek and was in his field with a yoke of oxen break- 
ing land when treacherously and without warning he 
was murderously attacked by six Winnebago Indians 
that previous to this brutal and coward/y meeting had 
appeared friendly and neighborly. Not satisfied with 
hacking their victim to death with tomahawks, Mun- 
son's head was cut off and tossed carelessly in the 
grasses of the prairie to become food for the wolves. 
The body was discovered shortly after the committal 
of the foul crime, by a white neighbor, and a commit- 
tee appointed to investigate the ghastly affair, of which 
Frank Fisher, now living in Decatur, was one. The 
Indians were run down, tried in a court of justice, and 
sentenced to the penitentiary for life, where they all 
died with one exception, "White Breast," who was 
released from prison on account of sickness and sent 
home, and who died a few days after his arrival at the 
Winnebago agency. 



CHAPTER SEVEN. 

TRAGIC DEATH OF MELLISH NEBRASKA'S FIRST RAIL- 
ROAD SURVEY REMINISCENCES OF DECATUR MUR- 
DER AT COVINGTON STRUGGLES OF '56 AND LIFE ON 

THE BORDER OMAHA's BIG PAYMENT A MEMOIR 

OF SARPY, THE FAMOUS PIONEER DESTRUCTION OF 

THE BROWN HOTEL, AND THE SUICIDE OF MRS. 

BROWN AND ED. GRIFFIN ERECTION OF DECATUR'S 

BRICK SCHOOL HOUSE THE VILLAGE COAL MINING 

COMPANY SHOOTING OF CRAGON DISASTROUS 

FIRE ORGANIZATION OF SECRET SOCIETIES STA- 
TISTICS ON BURT COUNTY, AND THE STATE POPU- 
LATION PROGRESS OF INDUSTRIES, ETC. 

Reverting- back ag^ain to early recollections of De- 
catur, the winter of '57 witnessed the beginning- of a 
solemn drama, when Henry Mellish, a young eastern 
lad, of elastic health, drifted in a blinding snow storm 
up the lonely Wood Creek valley and was lost sight 
of forever. Mellish came up from St. Louis on a 
steamboat and went to work on the new agency dwell- 
ings, then being built on the site where the old Henry 
Fontenelle houfee stands now. Shortly after its com 
pletion, the residence took fire, on an early Saturda)^ 



Io8 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

morning, and the settlers were awakened from a sound 
sleep hastened to the scene of disaster, Mellish among 
them, to render what aid they could, but when they 
arrived, human effort could not have saved the build- 
ing, and all the villagers could do was to stand idly 
but anxiously by, and watch the handsome structure 
hungTily devoured by the ravishes of the wild fiames. 
When the fire had completed its work of destruction, 
it began snowing, fast and thick, the storm continu- 
ing until evening, and Mellish was not missed, only 
when some one at the supper table inquired where he 
was. The next morning a searching party was insti- 
tuted, and the country scoured for miles around, but 
without reward. Waldo Thompson, the next spring, 
on his way to Arlington's, living wdiere Oakland is 
now, when about half way, came very near being 
thrown from his horse, the ainmal shying at some hid- 
den object in the grass. Thompson dismounted, and 
in his search found a man's skull, some human bones, 
and a little farther off a man's coat. He returned to 
town with his discoveries, and Dr. Whitacre made an 
examination of the skull and identified it as that of 
Mellish's by a gold filling in one of the teeth, a piece 
of dental work he had executed for the unfortunatt 
young man during the summer of '56. The remains 
Avere tenderlv placed in a neatly home-made coffin, and 



KKMIXISCEXCES OF NEBRASKA. 1 09 

amid touching- ceremonies, interred on the hill bcick of 
where the village school house stands today; and this 
burial constitutes the first interment to have taken 
place in the Decatur cemetery. 

Although the tracks have not been laid, the rum- 
bling of the ri)lling- wheels of the flying cars have not 
been heard, and a daring engineer must yet pull the 
throttle that blows his whistle of warning, a survey 
was made fur a practical route many long and weary 
years ago — and it will go down in history as the first 
in Nebraska, with that venerable old pioneer, Capt. S. 
T. Leaming. as its chief, and Christopher C. Dunn 
as baggagemaster of the overland trip. Other mem- 
bers of the party were Don Barker, \\^ni. McBride, 
and John Kispert. The survey began in the fall of 
'58, in the little settlement of Decatur, starting the 
chain from the banks of the river and carried to a 
point beyond the Elkhorn, compassing a distance of 
over fifty miles, and the work only abandoned then 
on account of a shortage in provisions, and advancing 
cold weather. The survey was called the "Decatur 
and South Pass Railroad," a feasable and direct line 
to the Rocky mountains, authorized by the great 
Northwestern, known in those days under another 
name. The first camp (an American wall tent and 
an Indian buffalo teepee) was pitched at the head of 



no STORY OF AM OLD TOWN. 

Elm Creek valley, and the party awakened from a 
sound sleep by the crackling- of a fierce and sweeping 
prairie fire. The next day occurred a total echpse of 
the sun, the wind blowing strongly and cold. As it 
was dark as night, it impeded the progress of the boys 
and they were compelled to lay over until it cleared 
up. To cross the Logan, a tree was felled, and Dunn, 
to transport his oxen and the loaded wagon, had to 
go below a few miles and ford the stream. The first 
lime he tried it his outfit got stuck, and this forced 
him to sleep out alone one night, but the next morn- 
ing his companions came down and pulled Dunn out. 
Up on the Elkhorn the surveying party camped near 
a settlement of two families, Moore and Babbitt, 
which was called Dewitt. Here the boys were treated 
very kindly by a man named Crawford. The next 
summer Dewitt was raided by a band of pilfering 
Pawnees, and Moore and Babbitt driven away from 
their homes. A rude raft was constructed and floated 
in the Elkhorn for the surveyors to go back and forth 
on in the prosecution of their work on the other side 
of the river, and this, including a few other incidents, 
constitutes the first railroad survey made in Nebraska 
Territory. 

Christopher C. Dunn, formerly of Decatur, and 
now residing in Blair, is one of Nebraska's oldest set- 



RI-:^rIXISCENCES of Nebraska. hi 

tiers, a man of truth and veracity, with a mind crisj), 
bright and retentive, and for the following- reminis- 
cences the author acknowledges his indebtednesses : 

In the fall of 1856 an honest and well-meaning 
homesteader was brutally shot down in his own door- 
way on a farm where the city of Covington stands 
now. with his wife standing by his side; the murderer 
coolly mounting his horse and riding away. The pre- 
sumption is, he was the hired tool of one of the notori- 
ous claim clubs of those days, some of which stopped 
short of nothing, to gain possession of a piece of land 
they coveted. The murderer to escape the wrath of 
the settlement, fled, making his first stoi>over in De- 
catur, registering for the night at the Brown hotel. It 
so happened Sherifif Wilson and Chris Dunn occupied 
the room adjoining the one taken by the man from 
the north, and were kept awake most of the night by 
their next door neighbor walking the floor. The 
sheriff, suspicioning something wrong, told Dunn he 
intended making an investigation the next morning 
and should his suspicions warrant it, he would place 
the fellow under arrest. They arose early, went down 
and inquired of the landlord who the stranger might 
be — but too late; the bird had flown. The widow of 
the murdered man protested possession by the claim 
club, and in the contest which followed for owner- 



112 STORY OF AX OLD TOWN. 

ship, a decision came from ^\'ashi^gto^ in favor of 
the woman. The ach'erse claimants had ahxady put 
up a sawmill and made other improvements, part of 
which they never recovered. 

In 1859, E. D. Borum was struck dead by a stroke 
of lightning. He and Dunn were sitting side by side 
on a bench in front of the village hotel, at that time 
under the management of Guy Barnum; and Adam 
Kerns was standing- in the doorway. A light storm 
came U|5 suddenly, and not so very much thunder; a 
flash of lightning chased across the sky, and Borum 
fell dead, from his seat, face down, to the sidewalk. 
At the postmortem it could not be shown that even the 
skin liad been broken by the flash, nor any marks on 
the body to show it had been burned. However, the 
coroner ascribed the cause of death to disfusion of 
lightning. 

Christopher C. Dunn came to Decatur with Will 
Phillips, James Johnson, and Herman Cole, from 
Cuming City, Neb., enticed to this \'illage by news 
of a railroad that was to be built there. Their last 
breakfast on the trip was eaten with Louis Peterson 
and his wife at the farm which is now known as the 
Latta ranch, the bill of fare consisting principally of 
dried elk's meat. The little party arrived in Decatur 
in the evening, and the boys put up at the "Turn 




ft i 



1_— M>!J.^- V*^"- 



GiMioral Store of Gporjce M. Byram. 



ki:mixiscences of Nebraska. 113 

Around Tavern," known as the city hotel, a small, two- 
room affair, roofed only on one side, the other side be- 
ing covered with an old tent. Dunn was out of to- 
bacco and wanted some, and on inquiring- for a store 
^\•as directed to Lambert's trading post — nothing more 
than a little rough and ready log house. Without more 
ceremony, Dunn pushed the door open and walked in, 
little thinking his timely arrival would prevent a mur- 
der. A man was lying flat on his back on the fl^or 
and another man sitting astride of him, with a long 
butcher knife in his hand, just in the act of striking a 
fatal blow. Dunn stepped in as Paul Dominick ex- 
claimed. "Sacre dege mur," a French curse of some 
choice variety which the author would not dare at- 
tempt to interpret, and then it was he leaned forward 
to drive the knife into his victim's heart, when quick 
as a flash Dunn jumped, catching Dominick by the 
wrists and then called for help, the appeal being 
answered by T(Mn McDonald. The men were parted 
and finally pacified. The fellow who lay on the floor 
was Pat Hamilton. This incident gives the reader 
an idea of the character of some of the dare devil 
spirits the settlers had to deal with in those wnld and 
adventurous times. 

The spring of 1857 was when the first big payment 
was made to the Omaha Indians, representing $40,000 
8 



114 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

in gold, $20 per capita, issued by the agent, under a 
huge Cottonwood tree north of Wood creek, about 100 
yards from the Missouri river. Henry Fontenelle was 
government interpreter, and Sarpy and Lambert both 
had a yard full of ponies, which they sold to the In- 
dians for $100 a head. The chiefs got tirst choice 
then the sub-chiefs, and so on down to the common 
warrior. A small piece of rope was presented the pur- 
chaser, who entered the yard alone, and, making his 
selection, caught his own horse. Tom McDonald con- 
ducted a temporary store on the grounds and sold 
flour and meat to the Indians for fancy prices. To 
depict Sarpy as Dunn remembers him in a word pic- 
ture the man would appear something like this : In 
statue, low sized, rather heavy, dark complexioned, 
full of energy, rather high tempered, generous and 
kind, ambitious and a hard drinker — a very determined 
and good looking man. Necoma, an Omaha Indian, 
was his wife, and when Sarpy died he willed her a 
small sum of money. While he was shrewd and also 
an advocate of peace, yet he recognized no law but 
a square deal and a good trade, and always slept with 
one eye open for business. It is said Sarpy had been 
married several times and when he was living with 
Tacoma, had a white woman for a wife, in the city of 
Omaha. He was united to his Indian woman in ac- 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. II5 

corclancc with the customs of her tribe, which is noth- 
ing more than mutual consent, and giving the Ijride's 
father a few^ ponies, robes, etc. 

John McAIurphy came to Nebraska from New York * 
in 1867 and lived to be one of the foremost writers 
in our state. Clerked and freighted for Charlie Porter 
and engaged in the mercantile business for himself; 
married Miss Dakin, a Decatur girl; established the 
"Hoof and Horn," of South Omaha; at one time on 
the editorial staff of the Bee; editor of a paper at 
Blair, and editor and proprietor of a daily at Beatrice. 
Mr. McMurphy was endowed w'ith a broad intellect, 
generous to a fault, and a man who fought for the 
battles of Nebraska from start to finish, and for the 
good he accomplished, will live in the hearts of the 
people and on the pages of our state's history. Mr. 
McMurphy died very suddenly in the city of Omaha 
a few years ago with an affection of the heart. His 
loyalty to a friend or employe may be cited by illus- 
trating the circumstances under which he lost one of 
his eyes. 

1859 John was working for Steven Decatur on his 
ranch at Decatur Springs, taking care of stock and 
doing other chores. One spring morning a big prairie 
fire swept down the valley threatening to destroy 
everything before it. McMurphy, anxious to ^ave the 



Il6 STORV OF AX OLD TOWN. 

Commodore's property from destruction, jumped into 
the high flames of the tall grass, regardless of his own 
welfare, and by persistent stubbornness succeeded in 
changing the course of the fire enough so that Deca- 
tur's property escaped the fierce ravish, but in his brave 
fight, his face and hands were badly blistered, and 
from the effects of the iiijuries received, lost the power 
of sight in his left eye. 

The first labor for Dunn to perform in Decatur was 
a little blacksmith work up on the side hill, for John 
A. Horbaugh, who had broken some of the irons on 
his wagon — the first man to do any farming around 
Decatur; and helped to put together the first locomo- 
tive this side of Chicago, the "Blackhawk." of which 
there is a record. 

Dominick shot himself a short time after his attempt 
to kill Pat Hamilton in Lambert's store. Mr. Lam- 
bert had loaded his wagons for Pike's Peak, ready to 
go, Dominick to accompany him, but it rained the 
morning they intended starting, so Lambert ordered 
the goods unpacked, stating he would defer the trip 
until the weather had settled. This displeased Dom- 
inick very much and he became sulky. During the un- 
loading, he went to the back of the wagon and jerked 
out his rifle, a Winchester, and the trigger must have 
caught in the endgate for the gun exploded, the con- 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 11/ 

tents hitting- Dominick square in the stomach, and he 
died the next day. 

Christopher C. Dunn was horn at Alount Lucas, 
Kings county, Ireland, November 20th, 1830. Expert 
machinist, mastering his trade in the shops of Nugent 
& Owens of Chicago; was caught on Broadway, New 
York City, in the McCrady riot, and saw the gutters 
run with blood in front of the Astor house after the 
first volley was fired by Jim Fiske's City Guards; en- 
listed as a volunteer, and first sergeant of Monfarey's 
Chicago City Guards, and on duty in the lager beer 
riots in 1855. Came to Decatur April, 1857, and 
married ]\Iiss Theresa Jane \A'elch, a young lady who 
opened the first millinery shop in Burt county, the cer- 
emony being performed at Onawa, Iowa, in 1862. In 
1858 three commissioners were appointed by the ter- 
ritorial legislature : James E. Wilson, Stephen De- 
catur, and Christopher Dunn, to locate a road from 
Decatur to West Point. Dunn plowed a deed furrow 
to mark out the road between the two towns, and it 
was a God-send, for in those days the country was a 
naked wilderness, and the wandering ])ioneer losing 
his way from the dim trails of the prairie, when he 
came in contact with the line, knew by acting on the 
implied suggestion of either direction, at the terminus 



Il8 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

would be found a settlement of neighborly white 
people. 

To picture Nebraska Territory briefly as it was in 
those days the description would read something, like 
the following: The territory was still the home of the 
Indian. Columbus was a small trading point, its only 
dwelling a rough and ready hotel for the accommoda- 
tion of freighters, scouts, travellers, and trappers, a 
small flat boat to carry passengers across the Loupe, 
one store and a handful of settlers. At Grand Island 
a small colony of foreigners had squatted, who lived 
in shanties. At Kearney was a traders' post and Jules- 
burg, the last station going west, a little later boasted 
of a telegraph offlce. Besides a few other inland set- 
tlements and including the Missouri river towns, such 
was the meagre inhabitation of Nebraska in 1858, 
when the march of civilization had begun in earnest 
to break down the thick undergrowth of the rich and 
fertile west. 

Decatur settlement in the year of 1856 looked any- 
thing else but the prosperous and lively town she is 
now; with her peace and plenty, enjoying the labor, 
improvement and wealth of an enterprising popula- 
tion very close to the one thousand mark. On what 
the citizens call Main street now, which constituted 
the entire village then, there stood three unfinished 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. II9 

shanties, two log- cabins, "Hi'' Chase's one-room trad- 
ing post, and Sarpy's so-called frame store, built of 
rough Cottonwood slabs. On the bottomlands, the 
buffalo, elk, and deer roamed at will, and in the rich 
and fertile valleys, a multitude of tall and slender 
grasses moved in graceful motion to the slightest 
breath of wind. In the morning could be heard the 
gobble of the turkey and in the eventide came the timid 
quack of ducks and other wild fowl off in the gloam- 
ing. The settlement barely numbered twehe, and a 
white woman was yet to make her debut. The daily 
diet consisted of corn bread and jerked meat, and 
white bread a luxury and almost unknown, for flour 
had to be imported from a long distance, and then at 
a great expense. The persevering pioneer's bed was 
manufactured out of discarded dry goods and grocery 
boxes, nailed up in one corner of his homely hut, and 
to soften it, an armful of dry slough grass was thrown 
upon the board slats. For lights, candles were manu- 
factured of tallow, in moulds a household tool which 
some of the settlers had brought with them from the 
east. Others unable to secure enough lumber with 
which to manufacture a bedstead, spread their blankets 
and robes upon the floor and so rested and slept 
through the night. 

This little home in the wilderness was treeless and 



120 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

to gladden their hearts with the sight of foHage, the 
inhabitants must look into the forests of Iowa or wan- 
der in the scattering- timber up along Wood creek. 
The ground was wet and swampy in places, and the 
only visitors, peaceful Indians from the reservation, 
decorated with bright paints and waving plumes of the 
eagle and hawk, who came down to barter their furs 
and spend their money for provisions and to lay in a 
supply of "pa-da-ne," better known in those days un- 
der the names of ''rot-gut" and "whisky." 

The severity of the winter of '56 drove most of the 
settlers south, but with the coming of spring they all 
returned again, and then Decatur Townsite Company 
was organized, the village laid out. and steamboats 
transporting lumber up the river — the material was 
used for the construction of new dwellings. The com- 
pany spent many thousands of dollars for the purpose 
of improving and beautifying the town. Trees were 
planted, a ferry established, and Capt. Leaming. as 
first mayor, was the father of the village. Judge 
Doane, now of Omaha, a young barrister from the 
east, arrived in town, built himself a neat little office, 
hung out his shingle and began the practice of his pro- 
fession. Dr. Whitacre presided as village physician, 
and Mat Wilbur returned from Omaha with his wife, 
and brought with him a team of horses and a wagon, 




Hon. II. D. Byraiii 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 121 

the first to enter the town. Frank Welch was installed 
as city postmaster, Ijut Hinman, who came over from 
Onawa in '55, was postmaster for the settlement, super- 
ceded hy a man named Percival, and then followed the 
appointment of A\'elch. 

New store l)uilding-s were erected as well as new 
homes; the Omahas hegan receiving- large annuities, 
spending- the most of their gold dollars in Decatur, 
thus circulating- an enormous amount of money that 
was very acceptahle and heneficial. ]\Iechanics and 
determined farmers from the east located in tlie com- 
numity; a three-story hotel was built in the town, also 
a city hall and a school house started, and with this 
splendid commencement and output, Decatur ])re- 
sented an appearance that was not only bright but 
promising. 

On ^Tay ist. 1862, letters patent in the United 
States were granted l^ecatur and signed by President 
Abraham Lincoln. In the fall of 1869 it Avas made a 
city of the second class, and in the spring of 1880 re- 
duced to a village again. The first birth in Decatur 
was a daughter of O. F. Wilson, and the first death 
that of John Gardner. In 1859 a ]Mr. Paul, who had 
located on a piece cf land south of Decatnr. with the 
s-iew of starting a ri\-al town, accidentally shot and 



122 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

killed himself. He intended naming his town, "St. 
Paul." 

Since this memorial date the growth and advance- 
ment of Decatur has been slow but steady, often meet- 
ing with some discouraging handicap, only to begin 
its march of progress again, with renewed energy and 
vigor. 

In the early '70's the city council granted Lewis 
and Coyle a charter to operate a steam ferry, the first 
of its kind on the river at this point. In the summer 
of 1875 the present handsome brick school building 
was erected under the supervision of A. B. Fuller, this 
gentleman turning out his own brick, and it was in 
the same year he built the splendid brick residence 
which his widow lives in now, at a cost of $5,000; and 
early in the morning. May 30, "Decoration Day," the 
Brown Hotel, built in 1857, caught fire and burned 
to the ground, then the property of Fuller, and his loss 
on furniture alone was over $1,200. 

During the winter of '76, Mrs. Brown, the wife of 
the village blacksmith, living then where the Stillman 
family reside now, committed suicide by cutting her 
throat with a butcher knife. Mrs. Brown w^as suffer- 
ing from ill health and had recently lost a daughter 
she was very fond of, and it was the opinion of friends 
her great grief and gloomy despondency is what 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 12^ 

caused the lady to destroy her life. ^Ir. Brown and 
his sons shortly after this sad event moved to Onawa, 
but these gentlemen still claimed Decatur for their 
home, and priDved their right by coming back each fall 
for several years to vote. They eventually changed 
their residence, however, and are now active and pro- 
gressive farmers of the Divide. 

It was in the winter of 1880 wiien Ed. Griffin tired 
of this mundane world and blew out his brains while 
sitting on his wife's lap, one evening at his home; the 
residence property now occupied by James Dillon and 
family. Ed. was a barber by trade, handsome, and 
a very stylish young fellow. Sensitixe by nature, he 
took part in an oyster supper given by a party of 
friends on the night of the tragedy, and was griev- 
ously offended by some thoughtless remark offered 
in a careless manner by one of his jolly associates. A 
few bottles of intoxicating beverages were opened, and 
it goes without saying, the boys enjoyed the careless 
and happy influence and were "feeling their oats a 
trifle." Ed. upon returning home, kissed his wife, bit 
off a chew of tobacco, and then told her he was going 
to leave this world of false friends and hard times, and 
before she could remonstrate, carried out his awful 
threat. 

On the 29th day of March, 1879, the Decatur Bank 



124 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

was incorporated, with James Ashley as president, 
Walter Drury, cashier, and Watson Parish, assistant 
cashier; capital stock, $10,000. Later Parish moved to 
Oakland; E. D. Canfield bought out Drury's interests, 
and on January ist, 1890, Thomas R. Ashley pur- 
chased a one-third share; and on May ist, 1898, the 
bank closed its doors from mutual dissatisfaction of 
business, by the partners, paying one hundred cents 
on the dollar. Previous to the incorporation of the 
bank of Decatur, Charles D. Dakin had conducted a 
banking business, receiving deposits and making loans, 
and called himself a banker. During all these years 
of progress a grist mill had been put in operation, now 
the property of M. J. Kenyon, also a saw^ mill, now the 
property of Charles Noyse, and a brick yard 
conducted by C. C. Bacon. In 1889 and the years fol- 
lowing brought forth new enterprises as well as more 
accidents. In 1881 a newspaper was established, en- 
titled "The Decatur Herald," first edited by a man 
named Woodward, succeeded by Price and Neville. 

The same year a mining company was organized, 
consisting of A. B. Fuller, George Atwater, Walter 
Drury, and others, for the purpose of excavating for 
coal in the neighborhood, as some good indications 
and favorable specimens had been discovered. Col. 
George F. Straight, a mining expert, was employed to 



KEMINISCEXCES OF NEBRASKA. 12$ 

make the test and supervise tlie investigations. At a 
depth of 70 feet a vein of lignite coal was found, and 
at a depth of 570 feet a vein of four and a half feet was 
struck, but the cost of digging- the mineral was too 
great and so the work was abandoned — and thus \an- 
ished Decatur's mining possibilities — perhaps forever. 
In the forepart of the eighty's, Mr. Fuller built a large 
two-story merchandise store for Mr. Ilobbs, now oc- 
cupied by John T. Choyce and Ernest Rohde, and 
other substantial improvements were made in the 
town. 

On the evening of January ist, 1882, Frank Cragon 
was shot, accidentally, in the store of Atwater and 
Hoppock and crippled for life. He was on his way 
to the postofifice and had stopped in at the store to 
warm, and also making preparations to attend a dance 
that night. Shortly after the fatal occurrence he be- 
came the protege of Mrs. Mary C. Page, and through 
all the years of his sickness and helplessness this lady 
was very considerate in her care for his welfare and 
comfort. Frank appreciated the services, and as he 
often said to his friends, "My dear mother could not 
be kinder and more patient with me than Mrs. Page 
is." About 1884 he started a small paper which he 
named "The Decatur Eaglet," certainly a very bright 
little paper. Frank was a sagacious young fellow and 



126 STORY CF AN OLD TOWN. 

had he retained his health would have made a mark for 
himself. In the summer of 1889 a spirit of progress 
moved him and he entered into a newspaper enter- 
prise in the city of Pender with Harry S. Swenson 
as a partner, but remained only a few months, when 
a terrible siege of homesickness overtook him and he 
returned to his adopted mother in Decatur, Mrs. Page. 
Cragon's health was very poor when he arrived in De- 
catur, and the changing brought no improvement, 
which he had hoped for, and on December 6th, 1889, 
the poor fellow was called to the other world by that 
grim and unmerciful messenger of death, and laid to 
rest in the village cemetery. 

In the latter part of the seventies the Wood's hotel 
was built, a very handsome and commodious little 
tavern, and it enjoyed a profitable business for several 
years, but about '88 the shadow of destruction fell 
across its threshold and it burned to the ground. At 
the time of the accident the hotel was under the man- 
agement of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ashley. 

The year 1890 witnessed new enterprises and also 
a very disastrous fire. It took place on the morning 
of August 8th, and perhaps the worst to occur in the 
village. Byram Brothers' large merchandise store 
very mysteriously broke out in flames, and this build- 
ing was not the only one destroyed, but also T. A. 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 1 27 

Loveland's harness shop, and John G. Ashley's fine 
general store, just replete with a new and fresh line 
of goods. Most of the business firms were covered 
with insurance, but Byram Brothers were only partly 
so, and their net loss was over $7,000. A" few months 
prior to this event their store was entered by burglars 
and $120 taken, besides some of the stock. 

On the evening of August loth, two days after the 
fire, a surprise party was tendered to Mr. Henry 
Byram and his wife at their cottage home by a host 
of friends and neighbors, in honor of their tenth wed- 
ding anniversary. Mr. Byram was presented with a 
gold watch and chain and Mrs. Byram with a silver 
cake basket, Rev. Hamilton and Rev. Miller deliver- 
ing the speeches of presentation. A delicious hmch- 
eon was served on the lawn, consisting of ices, fruit, 
and cake. It was a beautiful moonlight night and the 
artistic arrangement of Japanese and Chinese lanterns 
hung effectively in the rich foliage of the shrubbery 
and trees, presented a picture of harmony and delight. 
Under the leadership of B. F. McDonald, the Decatur 
Silver Cornet Band filled the night with song and 
charming music, which made light the hearts of the 
merry feasters. Mr. and Mrs. Byram will always look 
back to this occasion as one of the happiest moments 



128 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

of their lives, and as an expression of public sentiment 
and kindness which can never be forgotten. 

In regard to the secret organizations of Decatur, 
they will be enumerated as follows : A charter was 
granted Decatur Camp, M. W. A., No. 673, on the 
9th day of April, 1890, by Head Counsel W. H. 
Northcott, of Fulton, Illinois. A charter was granted 
the Royal Neighbors, an auxiliary to the Woodmen, 
March 23rd, 1899, by Mrs. E. D. Watt, Supreme 
Oracle. Both camps have been very progressive since 
their organization, and now have enrolled a large 
membership. 

The W. O. W.'s Red Elm Camp was granted a 
charter December 2nd, 1898, by Joseph Cullen Root, 
Head Counsel Commander of Omaha. Woodman 
Circle, an auxiliary to the AA". O. W., was organized 
February 8th, 1900. The number of the camp is 39. 
Although these two orders are young they have en- 
joyed a very encouraging growth. 

On the evening of April nth, 1898, a charter was 
granted the Modern Brotherhood of America by the 
Supreme President with a charter membership of 19. 
Wliile the lodge is not numerically big, it is good in 
quality, and a reliable secret order. 

Other secret orders of the village are given as fol- 
lows, recently organized: The Eastern Star, Coming 



UKMIXISCKXCES OF NEBRASKA. 1 29 

Young of -America, Royal Archates, and one the nanie 
of which is not known by the public. 

Submitting a few remarks on general information 
pertaining to lUu't county and the state of Nebraska 
closes this chapter. It would be safe to estimate the 
population of Burt for i860 at about 1,000; up .to 
1870, close to 7.000; 1890, at 11,500, and for 1900, 
about 20,000. 

The population of Nebraska in the middle '50's did 
not number over 5,000; i860, about 20,000; 1870, 
130,000; 1880, 450.000, and 1890, over a million. The 
number of school teachers in the state, 1890, was 11,- 
183. and the number of pupils, 423,126. Total valua- 
tion of real and personal property, 1880, over $90,- 
000,000; per capita, $200.23; 1890, aggregate value. 
$184,770,000; per capita, $174.49. The number of 
tons of hay harvested for i860 w^as over 24,000 for 
1890 something over 3,000,000 tons. Yield of tobacco, 
i860, 3,600 pounds; 1880, 57,000 pounds, and 1890, 
11.000 pounds. The yield of potatoes for i860 was 
162,000 bushels; 1890, 9,138,000 bushels. Fruit 
products are as follows: Apples, 1,172,000 bushels; 
apricots, 223 bushels; cherries, 18.004 bushels; 
peaches. 19.700 bushels; pears. 1,114. ^ii^l plums, 15.- 
800 bushels. Production of cereals : Number of 
bushels of wheat raised i860, 147,800; 1890, 10,571,- 



130 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

000 bushel; oats, i860, 74,502 bushels; 1890, 43,843,- 
640 bushels; barley, i860, 1,100 bushels; 1890, 1,822,- 
III bushels; rye, i860, 12,495 bushels; 1890, 1,085,- 
083 bushels; corn, i860, 1,482,000 bushels; 1890, 
215,895,996 bushels. 

In i860 there was somerhing over 4,000 head of 
horses in' Nebraska; now the amount will number 
close to 700,000. In i860, cattle numbered about 30,- 
000; now this industry will count close to 20,000,000 
head. Sheep numbered in i860, 2,355 head; for 1890, 
the average amount was 209,243. Mules in i860 num- 
bered something over 469 head; 1890, 46,512. 

Nebraska's industrial and commercial growth has 
been rapid and to illustrate, a few are enumerated as 
follows: Cheese, butter and milk industries for 1890 
numbered 58 establishments; 1880, only 21; men's 
clothing, 1890, 136; 1880, only 28; flour and grist 
mills up to 1890, 185; confectionery, in 1880, only 
4; up to 1890, 18; liquors and malt, 1880, 23; now 
only 14; tobacco, cigars and cigarettes, 1889, 21 fac- 
tories; now 84. Printing establishments, 1880, 22; up 
to 1890, 443 publishing houses. In 1880 there were 
but two planing mills; 1890, there were 24. All other 
industries have increased proportionately. 



CHAPTER EIGHT. 

JUSTICE WILBUR AND HIS ANCIENT DOCKETS NOTED 

ITINERANT PREACHER, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF 
THE FIRST CHURCH IN BURT COUNTY REMINIS- 
CENCE OF VALE, A REFORMED GAMBLER BIOGRA- 
PHIES FATHER HAMILTON, AND THE ORIGIN OF 

THE FAMOUS INDIAN RESERVATION OLD SETTLERS 

OF BURT AND DOUGLAS COUNTIES CONCLUSION. 

The docket book of Matthew C. Wilber, justice of 
the peace for the village of Decatur, for the years of 
1858 and 1859, is an interesting reminiscence, and a 
few titles of the cases which he heard before his anci- 
ent court are quoted as follows : 

"Territory of Nebraska vs. S. B. Griswold. Com- 
plaint, selling liquor to Indians. Warrant issued 29th 
day of June, 1858, and upon affidavit of Thomas 
Whitty, deposeth and says that Griswold did sell and 
give intoxicating liquors to a certain half breed in 
said territory on a prescribed day;' therefore Thomas 
H. Whitacre is here by appointment as special con- 
stable to arrest him and bring the body before the 
court; the writ of execution returned on the 2nd day 
of July and the said Griswold having been given a 



132 STORY OF AX OLD TOW X. 

fair and an impartial trial upon the evidence, was 
found guilty of the charg'e herein named, and is bound 
over to the district court in the sum of $500. 

"]\Iike Evans and Thomas Whitty vs. I. C. Jones"; 
a suit broug-ht l)y the plaintiff to recover $37.60, price 
and value of 7,500 shingles, sold and delivered to said 
defendant. Summons returned Alay 20th, 1858, and 
trial heard in town hall; and having weighed the argu- 
ments of council for both parties, it is considered by 
the court, that the defendant recover costs in this be- 
half. Plaintiffs appeal for a new trial, and in the re- 
hearing, the justice finds for them a judgment against 
defendant for $37.50, and costs. 

"Thomas Holton vs. George Scidmore : A suit 
brought before this court by plaintiff to recover dam- 
ages for the wrongful detention of property; and on 
March 30th, 1859, the summons was returned, and 
the court proceeded to trial at Brown's hotel. By writ 
of reple^'in the goods and chattels were given in cus- 
tody of the plaintiff by Lorenzo Hobbs, special con- 
stable, bond and security according to law having been 
given in behalf of the plaintiff by Guy Barnum and 
Silas Learning; and upon the evidence of the witnesses 
the court finds that the plaintiff' can recover from the 
defendant one yoke of oxen valued at v$85 and costs of 
within suit. The prosecuting attorney in the cases 



KHMIXISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. I 33 

cited was George W. Doane. and ior the defense, 
Da\id Collier. Hon. .Mbert White succeeded Mr. Wil- 
ber as justice of the peace, and a few of the cases heard 
before him are as follows: 

"Territory of Nebraska vs. Jacob Snieder."' Action 
in tresspass. 

''Perry Owens vs. Adam Kerns.'' Suit in action for 
labor performed by plaintiff. 

"Territory of Nebraska vs. Jt)hn Kendall." In- 
formation of plaintiff of one M. Owens, says that de- 
fendant made an assault upon his person with intent 
to do bodily injury. Action reduced to a misdemeanor 
and said Kendall, who pleaded "not guilty," fined for 
the costs of trial. 

"Henry Marsh vs. Charles Blackstone." In which 
plaintiff' demands damag'e for failure to deliver a cer- 
tain yoke of oxen. Henry Cline acted as special con- 
stable in these cases and served the summons. 

In the court of C. Outhwaite, justice of the peace 
for 1866 and 1867, the following cases w^ere heartl : 

"M. Evans vs. John Callahan." Replevin suit to 
recover one red heifer. 

"A. B. Fuller vs. Tom Jones." Plaintiff' demands 
$18 for failure to pay board bill, and storage rent. 
"Daniel Corhart vs. John Sprague." Complaint, 



134 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

petit larceny. Many other cases are cited, but lack of 
space will not allow the enumeration. 

To Tekamah belongs the honor of having estab- 
lished the first permanent church organization in Burt 
county, this notable event taking place in 1858, under 
the direction of Rev. J. M. Taggart, an itinerant mis- 
sionary, who laid the corner stones of the now opulent 
Baptist parish, with the meagre material of eight, but 
very earnest God-loving souls. Taggart's work began 
in '56 in the west, his field of religious efforts con- 
fined to Missouri river settlements between Platts- 
mouth and Decatur, conducting his services in school 
houses, town halls, private homes, and other places he 
might secure; his mode of travel, on horseback, and 
some times afoot. Mrs. Ed. Shafer was his first ac- 
cession to the Tekamah church after its organization 
by the eight constituents, and Rev. J. P. Hungate was 
the first resident pastor of that parish, beginning with 
i860 and ending with 1864. Much good has emanated 
from the religious seeds planted by Rev. Taggart in 
his little congregation so long ago, and today the books 
of this church will register a membership of over four 
hundred. 

Rev. James Vale, a reformed gambler, better known 
as "Buckeye," for the reason he was a native of Ohio, 
was a romantic character of Tieville, the defunct wood- 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. I35 

choppers' settlement situated on the Iowa side of the 
river, east of Decatur. Vale and his wife, an educated 
lady, came down the Missouri in a small lioat, hailing 
from a miners' camp up in the mountains; and upon 
his arrival in the village paroled himself as a minister 
of the gospel, and the citizens taking him at his word 
installed him as their pastor, services being held once 
and twice a week. Ramo, a wood chopper, recognized 
Vale as a shady character of Alontana, and told Jack 
Lewis, confidentially, that he, as one of a vigilance 
committee, had waited on Vale and Plummer, then in 
the liquor business in a mining camp, one dark night; 
and Vale was ordered to leave the settlement before 
morning. Plummer. a noted desperado, and a brother- 
in-law of Vale; was taken by the committee to the 
nearest tree and hung; his offense, stealing cattle and 
killing an ofificer of the law. A'ale made his escape 
from the incensed citizens by jumping in a Makanav\^ 
boat and coming down the river. Vale filled the pulpit 
of the Decatur Methodist church once, and liked by 
all who knew him, for he was accommodating and 
pleasant. He learnt John Lewis of Decatur the science 
of cribbage, and told him he had played many a game 
for $5 a side. IXn-ing his residence in Tieville he 
worked every day with the boys, chopping cord-wood 
and railroad ties; remained two vears and then went 



\T,6 STORY OF AN OLD TO\VN. 

Up in Dakota, and it is said he was very successful in 
his undertakings up there. 

The resicUie of this cliapter will he devoted to biog- 
rapliies mt already herein mentioned in the work 
which also includes old and prominent settlers of river 
towns south of Decatur : 

Re\'. William Hamilton- — Born in Lycuming coun- 
ty. Pennsylvania. August ist, 1811, on the banks of 
the beautiful Susquehanna; graduate of Jefferson Col- 
lege, Washington. Pennsylvania, and married Miss 
Julia Griffin of that city; ordained a preacher, and 1837 
appointed by the Presbytery of Northumberland to 
take charge of the Iowa and Sac mission on Wolf 
Creek, 25 miles from St. Joe, Missouri; destined by 
the Indians to die once, but friends of the tribe 
changed the purpose, and they went across the river 
and shot another white man. Rev. Hamilton was also 
attacked by a blacksmith once (whiteman), the fellow 
making his assault with a pistol in one hand and a 
bowie knife in the other. Hamilton's fearless defense 
and great strength saved him. The would-be mur- 
derer was afterwards burned at the stake in Texas for 
killing the prosecuting attorney in court; and in his 
awful agonies confessed to killing several white men 
and one Indian. 1853, Rev. Hamilton was transferred 
to the Omaha Indian mission at Bellevue. c- Mitinuing 



IT 



Hgk| 



Ur. .1. H. Wliittier. 



KE^[I^•ISCExcI•:s of xehraska. 137 

in this nnl)]e work until the day of his death, wliich. 
took place in the village of Decatur a few years ago, 
the victim of a stroke of paralysis. In 1856 the United 
States go\-ernment contributed $65,000 and the Pres- 
byterian board of foreign missions $15,000, and under 
the supervision f^f Rev. Hamilton the famous Jndiau 
mission was built on the Omaha reservation, s.tuated 
on a picturesque elevation overlooking the Missouri 
River. The r(~)ck for the mission* was quarried (TUt 
not far from tlie site and the other building material 
shipped up from Fcnt Plattsmouth; and upon its com- 
pletion, Hamilton moved up and became the su])erin- 
tendent of the school. A few years later he lost his 
wife, who was fatally injured by being thrown from a 
buggy. The old mission is interesting for the histori- 
cal atmosphere which surrounds it. It was here in 
1843 that Big Elk died from an attack of smallpox, 
also carrying off two bundled of his choicest warriors. 
It was here also that the Omahas met the warlike 
Sioux in battle, and today on the ridges will be found 
a scattering of bones, cannv tell-tales of these bloody 
conflicts. A few old "chaches" remain, secret excava- 
tions in the ground, used by the ancient traders to hide 
their goods in during the wild skirmishes between 
(|uarreling tril)es "\ ])ugnacious Indians. 1869 Rev. 
1 Familt' n was united in marriage t' ]Miss Etta Hunt- 



138 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

ing, a school teacher of the mission, and to them have 
been born three children, Lotta, Julia, and John, all of 
whom are living. Hamilton's missionary work among 
the Omahas was effective. Fift}^ years ago this people 
bowed to the morning sun and gave up their offerings 
to the stars; today their reservation is dotted with 
school houses and Christian churches, and now they 
read the same books, talk the same language and wor- 
ship the same God the white man does. About the 
time of this great man's death the mission was aband- 
oned, and a few years ago it was sold to Ed. Farley 
of Bancroft and Walter Diddock of Omaha agency for 
the consideration of $150. 

When the Northwestern laid its tracks across the 
state of Iowa, Mat Hamlin started with it from 
Illinois, in the employ of the Western Mail and Stage 
Company as a carrier. It involved considerable time 
to complete this mammoth piece of railroad engineer- 
ing, and as the company proceeded in its extension 
of terminals, Mat transported the mails from the point 
arrived at on to the next inland station, and the first 
driver out of Council Bluffs after that road had 
reached the Missouri River. Then followed up John 
I. Blair's Sioux City and Pacific, same manner, and 
drove the last four-horse team carrying the mail into 
Sioux City. Mat drove stage in the Blackhills, also 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 1 39 

conductor of mails between Beatrice, Nebraska, and 
:MaryviIle, Kansas, distance of forty miles. He was 
the veteran mail carrier of the West. A kind and gen- 
erous man, but a hard drinker; careless, and not hav- 
ing provided for old age, sickness forced him to the 
Burt county poor farm in the summer of 1900, where 
he died the following winter. 

Dr. J. B. \Miittier — Born in Xewhampshire, and a 
graduate of Dartmouth College, where Daniel Web- 
ster studied law. Dr. Whittier is also a cousin of 
John Greenleaf Whittier. America's famous poet; 1863 
resided at ^^'ashington, and appointed by President 
Lincoln paymaster in the United States army, head- 
quarters at New Orleans, remaining in that city and 
this service until the close of the rebellion; moved to 
Chicago and took up the study of medicine and grad- 
uated with honors from Hanneman Medical College, 
the largest of its kind in the world. After completing 
his course, hung his shingle out, and received a "night 
call." traveling many miles in the cold to wait on his 
patient; administered to the sick, but received no pay 
and no thanks. This treatment discouraged the doctor 
so much that he abandoned the practice of medicine, 
and lie went west and engaged in the mining business 
in Colorado for several years. From this state he re- 
moved to Decatur, Nebraska, bought some farms and 



140 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

interested himself in agriculture and stock raising. One 
of the original stock owners of the First National 
Bank of Tekamah, and owns a vast amount of real 
estate in Kansas. His farms in Burt county are elab- 
orately improved, arranged for comfort and conveni- 
ence, and the doctor has established the reputation for 
himself of being one of the kindest and most consid- 
erate landlords in the county. In the city of Lincoln, 
on the 20th day of February, 1895, Dr. Whittier and 
Miss Ida Stanton were united in the holy bonds of 
matrimony, the bride one of Burt county's fairest and 
sweetest daughters. Ever since this delightful event 
this happy couple have made their home in the village 
of Decatur. Dr. Whittier is the composer of a host 
of creditable pieces of verse, and certainly beings to 
the cycle of muses; but reticent and modest in these 
efforts, it is doubtful if the public w411 ever have the 
])leasure of reading them. It is only known l>y a very 
few that he is entitled to a relationship to the late de- 
ceased Queen Victoria, and the causes which have led 
to this distinction are quite romantic. The relation- 
ship begins during the reign of George III. of Eng- 
land, when Sarah, his sister, eloped with the king's 
weaver, whose name was \Mlliam Nutt. .Vfter the 
young couple were secretly married, they fled to this 
countrv and then disinherited by the royal family. In 



ri:mixiscencf.s of Nebraska, 141 

time the king's anger softened, and extending his for- 
giveness, Sarah and her husband were re-owned, and 
being in straightened circumstances, money was sent 
to tliem in a strong iron box. at intervals, bv King 
George; and later a deed to the Nutt place, situated 
in Newhampshire, was given James by the king, then 
the royal park in America, of which Nutt had 
been appointed royal keeper. Sarah, or Mrs. Xutt's, 
daughter was the mother of Dr. Whittier's mother, 
or Dr. ^\1^ittier^s great grandmother, which establishes 
Dr. ^^'hittier as a fourth cousin of Edward, the pres- 
ent king of England, and his mother a third cousin; 
and her mother a first cousin of George IV. and Wil- 
liam IV. of England, sons of George III; George IV. 
succeeding his father to the throne, and William IV. 
succeeding his brother. 

Mr. and ]\Irs. Robert Ashley left England October 
19th, i860, and arrived in Dakota City November 
19th, following the river up from St. Joe with an ox 
team which Mr. Ashley purchased in that City, St. 
Joe at that time being the railroad terminus. They 
arrived in Dakota City on a IMonday evening and the 
candle lights were burning in the windows. Here 
Mr. .\shley met his 1)ri)ther James, then the village 
blacksmith, and he went to work in his shops. Febru- 
ary 5th, 1 86 1, the young couple moved to Decatur, 



142 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

coming- down on the Iowa side of the river on ac- 
count of the heavy snow, and Mr. Ashley engaged in 
the blacksmith business for himself. Later he traded 
his team and wagon to Billy Points for his shanty, 
fifty acres of land down on Silver Creek and $io in 
money. When Mr. and Mrs. Ashley began house- 
keeping all they had was a cheap cook stove, four old 
chairs, a borrowed bedstead well stocked with bed- 
bugs, three cups and saucers, three plates, and a lim- 
ited amount of tin eating tools and ware. Mr. Hobbs 
in one of his trips to Omaha brought back with him 
two lamps, the first to enter the village, and Mr. and 
Mrs. Ashley secured one of them. Mr. Ashley's 
blacksmith shop was a success and he drew patronage 
from West Point, Washington county, and distant set- 
tlements in Iowa. In the autumn of '69 he moved 
down on his farm and remained until the spring of 
'72, \vhen he received his appointment as government 
blacksmith for the Omahas. Resided here tv^'elve 
years, doing all kinds of department work, acting in 
the capacity of a sub-agent. The Omahas became much 
attached to Mr. and Mrs. Ashley, and in one of their 
councils extracted a promise from them they would 
not leave the reservation of their accord, and offered 
them land. They were the only white people among 
the Omahas at this time. Thev returned to Decatur, 



ri:mi\isci:nci-:s of Nebraska. 143 

however, and conducted a hotel for several years, 
which they purchased in 1879. Under President Har- 
rison's administration, ]\Ir. Ashley received , his ap- 
pointment as U. S. Indian agent for the Omahas and 
Winnebagos, and upon expiration of his office returned 
to Decatur; his present home a dwelling costing 
$2,500, with modern equipments. Mr. and Airs. Ash- 
ley have been life-long members of the Methodist 
church and established a Sunday School in Decatlir 
early in the summer of '61. In this early day. 
Rev. Amsbury of Dakota City came down every two 
weeks and held services. They have two living chil- 
dren, Thomas R., born in England, '- 185 5, and Eva 
Louise, born in Burt county, September 13th, 1869, 
and who is now the wife of Hon. Chas. P. Mathew- 
son, U. S. Indian agent for the Winnebagoes and 
Omahas. Thomas R. is a pioneer school boy of Ne- 
braska, a graduate in law and one of the foremost 
lawyers before the Burt county bar. He has attended 
every republican convention in the county since he was 
twenty-one, and an active member in the political field. 
Married ]Miss Alice Byram of Decatur, September 
28th, 1880; ceremony performed by Rev. Sloan, and 
to them has been born one child, ]Mabel A., November 
6th, 1 88 1. Mr. Ashley has been offered nominations, 



144 STORY OF AX OLD TOWN. 

Init al\\a}'s declined. Controls 1.700 acres of reserva- 
tion land, most of which is under cultivation. 

Captain S. T. Learning was Ijorn in Schoharri 
county, New York, and educated for a civil engineer. 
1833, at the age of four, moved to La Porte, Indiana, 
and in 1852 crossed the plains to California, return- 
ing in 1855 and engaged in railroad work in Iowa; 
and in the spring of "57 made his hon:ie in Decatur. 
1859 elected to the Territorial legislature; appointed 
hy the government to allot farms to the.Omahas and 
Winnebagoes, the former being alloted in 1863 and 
the latter in 1864; Major Painter agent for the Oma- 
has and Major White for the Winnebagoes. County 
surveyor of Burt county for two years; 1862 enHsted 
in Company I, Second Nebraska, Hon. Robert W. 
Furnas his colonel, and Hon. John TafY, a well knowai 
politician, his major; 1863 promoted lieutenant and 
later received his commission as captain; 1889 moved 
to Milwaukee, and manager of a medical institute. 
Here he married his second wife, a Scotch lady of re- 
finement and high social tastes. Returned to his De- 
catur home in the spring of '97; owns one of the finest 
walnut groves in Nebraska, tweh'e and a half acres, 
and Dr. Miller of Omaha, authority on tree culture, 
estimates their value at $1,100 per acre. The captain 
has three boys and one girl by his first wife; Edward, 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. I45 

the oldest, is in California; Collier D. is railroading in 
Wisconsin, and Silas is studying law at the Madison 
University, Milwaukee; Anna, who married Charlie 
Shafer, a Tekamah boy, resides in Los Angeles, Cali- 
fornia; Charlotte M., a step-daughter, age ii, attends 
school at home, and H. E. J. is the baby, and does just 
as he pleases. 

Hon. Frank Welch was born on the historic ground 
of Bunker Hill, February loth, 1835, and located in 
Decatur in the fall of '57. A graduate of the high 
schools of Boston, he chose the profession of civil en- 
gineering and entrusted with several important sur- 
veys in the West, and identified himself with the 
progress of Nebraska until the day of his death, which 
took place at Neligh, Nebraska, September 4th, 1874, 
the victim of a paralytic stroke. He was attending a 
political convention, and expired while sitting in a 
chair. Although away from home, he was surrounded 
in these last sad moments by a circle of warm friends. 
]\Ir. Welch was prominent in Nebraska politics. He 
was a representative of the Territorial legislature, and 
in 1865 elected president of the upper house, and in 
1 87 1 appointed register of the land office at West 
Point. In 1872 he secured the nomination for mefn- 
ber of congress and after a spirited contest elected by 
an overwhelming majority. Upon the announcement 
10 



14^ STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

of his death, the United States legislature adjourned 
a day, to pay tribute to his memory, Mr. Majors, his 
successor, delivering an impressive memorial, also did 
Mr. Sapp of Iowa, Mr. Patterson of Colorado, be- 
sides a number of eastern congressmen Avho were in- 
timate friends. Frank Welch was a man of fine social 
powers, popular and ambitious. He was united in mar- 
riage to Miss Elizabeth Butts of Hudson, New York, 
in 1863, and shortly after the occurrence of this union 
he engaged in the mercantile business, which was not 
a financial success. The village of Decatur remembers 
Mr. Welch as her ancient postmaster, merchant, mem- 
ber of the town council, and village recorder. He was 
a useful man because he was trustworthy. One of his 
most important surveys took place in 1857, when he 
run the line of a projected railroad across the state of 
Iowa; and had the honor of representing the largest 
congressional district in the United States, the solitary 
representative in the lower house from a state embrac- 
ing seventy-five thousand square miles. Earnest and 
faithful for the welfare of his constituents, it is 
thought the strain hastened or at least contributed 
to his finis, which cut down a strong and noble man 
in the flower-time of his life. Frank Welch will not 
be forgotten. 

Calvin Root was born September 9th, 1806, in Le- 



RKMIXISCKNCES OF NEP.RASKA. T47 

banon, New York; and married ]\Iiss Almira M. Wil- 
cox on June 23rd, 1829, in Columl)ia county, same 
state. Emigrated from Wisconsin in the summer of 
'61 with his wife and two children, Nevada and 
Frank : George and Alice Perry also accompanying him. 
The trip was made overland, George Perry riding his 
pony. i\Ir. Root was a carpenter by trade, and in 
1864 appointed miller for the Omaha Indian mission. 
In 1876 he was appointed supervisor of the govern- 
ment grist and saw mill at the same place, and it was 
here that he died, January loth, 1882. Mr. Root 
crossed the plains to California in company with De- 
catur Young, father of S. T. Young, in 1852. The 
journey was made by wagon and it took three months 
They were gone three years. In the possession of his 
daughter, Mrs. Stillman, is a small oblong wooden 
box which Mr. Root made for his sweetheart to keep 
her love letters in. It is a quaint little relic, full of 
fond memories, and about seventy-five years old. 

John Lewis was born in Westchester, New York, 
March i8th, 1844, and married Miss Mary A. Kelso 
of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, at Sioux City. September 
4th, 1871, ceremony performed by Father McNulty. 
This union was blessed with three living children, born 
as follows: William R., March 12th, 1873; Anna M., 
January 6th, 1879; Mary Evalyn, January 19th, 188 1. 



148 STORV OF AN OLD TOWN. 

Air. Lewis came from Wisconsin to Nebraska with a 
party of homeseekers in the spring of '66; worked for 
Robt. Moore of Tieville for several years, and one of 
his foremen. Entered on a piece of land on the 
"Divide," and sold out later. Member of the village 
board of Decatur for many years; also served as town- 
ship assessor for several terms. With his partner, Mr. 
Coyle, the first to operate a steam ferry on the Mis- 
souri river in the early seventies. 

George W. Doane — Bern in Circleville, Ohio, De- 
cember 1 6th, 1824; graduate of law and eminent bar- 
rister of Nebraska; politics, democrat; and religion, 
Presbyterian; located in Decatur in 1857; i860 re- 
moved to Calhoun, then the central point for legal 
transactions. In tht oummer of '57 elected district 
attorney for the Third judicial district; elected to the 
Territorial legislature 1858; October 25th, 1859, mar- 
ried Miss Emily R. Greenhow of Vincennes, Indiana, 
and this venerable couple are now enjoying the love 
and companionship of five living children, Cora, Guy, 
William, Daisy, and George W. ; 1862 moved east and 
practiced law in Cincinnati, and 1864 returned and 
made his home in Omaha; 1865 elected prosecuting 
attorney for Douglas county; member of the city coun- 
cil 1868, and 1880 elected to the state senate; nom- 
inee for congress on the democratic ticket and defeated 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. I49 

by a very small majority. Now owns a few lots in 
village of Decatur. Mr. Doane is a pioneer of Ne- 
braska who accomplished much good for his state and 
the commonwealth. Starting out a poor boy, his stock 
in trade, rugged health and grim determination, he has 
lived to see his gray hairs covered with garlands and 
the civic wreath of honor. 

F. E. Lange — Born in Saxony, and emigrated to 
America 1852; cabinet-maker by trade; occupation, 
farmer; non-religious, and in politics, independent. 
Postmaster of Golden Springs for many years. Mr. 
Lange came to Burt county in the spring of '55 from 
St. Joe, Missouri, and homesteaded a piece of land 
which represents his present home; a wealthy farmer; 
served several terms as county commissioner. In an 
early day an attempt was made to lay out a town near 
Golden Springs to be known as "Central Bluffs." A 
store and some dwellings were erected — but the boom 
was not popular and the proposed city soon passed into 
oblivion. 

George E. Atwater — A native of La Porte, Indiana, 
came to Decatur with $25 in his pocket; engaged in 
the mercantile business and built up a large trade; 
chairman of the village board 1881. Now a real estate 
dealer and proprietor of a furniture store in Yankton, 
South Dakota. 



150 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

Walter Lewis, an English doctor, left his home in 
1856, and attired in a broadcloth suit, high silk tile, 
white gloves, and a stylish walking stick, crossed the 
state of Iowa with an ox team, arriving in Council 
Bluffs on the fourth day of July, a picture of woe, his 
dainty wardrobe a complete wreck; but the spirit of 
the man was undaunted, and going direct to the 
county clerk's office, he registered, declaring his inten- 
tion of becoming an American citizen. Persuaded by 
friends, the young doctor located in Monroe, a small 
settlement near Columbus, his residence and office a 
dug-out. One day while away on professional busi- 
ness, a roving band of mischevious Pawnees entered 
his domain and stole Lewis' bedding, provisions, and 
clothing. Discouraged by such treatment, he moved 
to Omaha, and one of the first to practice medicine in 
that city when it was but a mere village. Dr. Lewis 
has been a continuous resident of Decatur for over 
twenty-five years and a practitioner of medicine for 
over fifty years. Married Miss Carter of Burt county; 
owns a cozy piece of residence property, and independ- 
ent financially, religiously, and politically. 

Andrew J. Best. — ^Born in New Philadelphia, Ohio, 
August 13th, 1833; educated for the ministry, and 
resigned a charge to enlist in the Union army. Wound- 
ed in the battle of "Stone River," and receives a pen- 



RKMINISCKXCES OF XKl'.RASKA. I5I 

sion of $12 per month; 1870 made his home in Burt 
county and married for the second time, his wife, the 
widow of Judge \\'hite, the pioneer justice of Decatur. 
Tlie hardships and discouragements Mr. Best received 
in the war disheartened him, and he has never preached 
the gospel of rehgion since. 

George J. White was born in New York City, Feb- 
ruary 14th, 1844, and married Miss Susan A. Lewis 
of Westchester, New York, in the village of Tieville, 
February 8th, 1871; and to this pioneer couple have 
been born the following children : James P., February 
2nd, 1872; Catherine M., July i8th, 1874; Elizabeth, 
June loth, 1881; Lewis B., August 24th, 1883; Mary 
J., February 19th, 1885, and Margurette M., May 
26th, 1889. Mr. White was mess cook on Captain 
Overton's steamboat when she sunk while on her way 
from Sioux City to Omaha; then went to work as 
waiter in Judge Peak's hotel at Onawa; also drove 
stage between Decatur and Tieville; United States 
volunteer in the civil war and receives a pension of 
$12 a month. Bought 120 acres of land on the 
"Divide," but sold out later and moved to Decatur. 
Mrs. White was Tieville's school teacher previous to 
her marriage. Mr. White is commander of the local 
G. A. R.. and has filled many of the local public offices 
of the village and precinct. 



152 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

Edwin Higley was born in Onondagua county, New 
York, December 24th, 1825, and married Miss LouTsa 
White of Waukesha, Wis., in 1846; and to them were 
born three children: Herman, Frank E., and Addie 
F. Enlisted in Union army at Waukesha 1862; and 
taken prisoner in Arkansas between Pine Bluff and 
Little Rock; helped take Mobile in 1865, and in the 
siege of the Spanish Fort; discharged at Brownville, 
Texas, same year, and July, '66, moved to Decatur, 
and receives a pension of $12 a month. On July 2nd, 
1862, he married Mrs. Susie H. Thompson, a widow 
lady of Decatur, and in their comfortable home they 
have gathered around them a valuable collection of 
family relics, such as Mrs. Higley's mother's rocking 
chair, a hundred years old; an old-fashioned tea pot; 
some old oil paintings, valued at $500; a pair of can- 
dle sticks with a tray and snuffers, 150 years old, and 
a black silk quilt, many of the pieces from the scrap 
tapestry of the royal palaces of Europe. 

Frank O. Y'Dean was born in Sweden, November 
20th, 1847, ^i^cl married Miss Charlotte Isaacs of the 
same country at Linskiping, December 31st, 1872, and 
to this couple have been born four children : Mary 
L., August 8th, 1873; John H., April 2nd, 1875; Emil 
F., May 23rd, 1880, and David J., June 23rd, 1885. 
Mr. Y'Deen came to this country in 1881, a poor man. 



REMIXISCEXCKS OF NEBRASKA. 1 53 

first wcirking as a section hand on a railroad near Lin- 
coln. Then he moved to Decatur and adopted farming, 
being eminently successful, and is now in very com- 
fortable circumstances. His daughter, Miss Mary, was 
a member of the first graduating class of the Decatur 
high schools. Mr. Y'Deen was also a sharpshooter in 
the army of Sweden and won several medals for ex- 
cellent marksmanship. 

Azaziah B. Fuller was born in Erie county, Penn- 
sylvania, December 9th, 1821; his wife. Miss Mary 
Crawford, was born in the same county, September 
27th, 1827, and they were united in marriage in Erie 
county, November 19th, 1846; and to them were given 
the following children: Ella G., October 9th, 1847; 
Helen G., October .15th, 1849; Maryannetta, June 29th, 
1 851; Lizzie, November 9th, 1855; Kate, February 
25th, 1858; Clyde H., September 16, 1861; May C, 
September 24th, 1866, and Harriet M., July 23rd, 
1868. ]\Ir. Fuller was one of Decatur's earliest and 
foremost citizens, always alive to the interests of his 
town. So much has been said of this venerable pio- 
neer in preceding chapters that a repetition would be 
superfluous. He was a large contractor and builder, 
and most of the dwellings in Decatur of an early day 
were built by him. He entered into contract to fur- 
nish ties for the Union Pacific; built Decatur's fine 



154 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

school house; erected buildings for the government on 
the Omaha and Winnebago reservations; also on other 
reserves; and always to the front in all public enter- 
prises. His fondest hope was to secure a railroad, but 
he did not live to see his wish realized. He now sleeps 
in peace in the village cemetery and his widow is a 
prominent and influential member of the Episcopal 
church. Mrs. Fuller's estate is a large one, consisting 
of 765 acres of land, 28 town lots, 2 fine dwellings, 
and one store building, also a block of lots in Cedar 
Rapids, Nebraska. 

Charles B. Barlow is an Englishman by birth and 
came to Paterson, N. J., 1861, and engaged in the silk 
business. In 1865 he returned to England on a visit, 
leaving New York on the day President Lincoln was 
assassinated, but did not hear the news until his arrival 
in the harbor of Liverpool. Present in Hyde Park, 
London, when Prince Albert and the queen bid their 
soldiers farewell previous to their departure for the 
Crimean war. Also a guest' at a public reception given 
by the lord mayor of London in honor of the Duke 
of Wellington, who came into the hall with Queen 
Victoria leaning on his arm; and during the evening 
the queen presented to the great general a handsome 
sword as a token of honor for his valient services ren- 
dered in behalf of his country. Mr. Barlow also en- 



RFMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 1 55 

joys the distinguished privilege of having presented 
his courtesies in person to the beloved queen and con- 
versing with her. When he came to this country Tie 
was a poor boy, but by persistent industry and econ- 
omy has emassed a small fortune. He was united in 
marriage to a Miss Choyce of Illinois, and this union 
was blessed with four children : Rhoda, Charles, 
Emma, and John, who are now w^ell-to-do residents 
of Nebraska. Mr. Barlow had the misfortune to lose 
his estimable companion a few years ago, and she was 
laid to rest in the village cemetery. Mr. Barlow owns 
one of the largest general stores in Decatur, some val- 
uable town property, besides a good farm west of 
town. In religion he is a Methodist and in politics a 
strong republican. 

Charles R. Dakin. — Born in city of Concord, Mas- 
sachusetts; 1833 made his home in Geneva, New York, 
and in 1835 moved to Cleveland and clerked in a store; 
fall of 1839 emigrated to Wakesha, Wisconsin, and 
engaged in the mercantile business, and 1863 took up 
his residence on a farm near Decatur, and in 1875 
established himself as a banker in the village. Served 
as treasurer of the school board of Decatur. Died 
many years ago and the remains interred in the village 
cemetery. 

D. C. Griffin. — Born in Schoharri county, New 



156 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

York, September 22nd, 1824; occupation, farmer; re- 
ligion, Methodist, and politics, democrat; has an abso- 
lute title to 560 acres of improved farming land in 
Burt county; named in honor of the founder of the 
New York canal, Governor DeWitt Clinton. Married 
Miss C. C. Johnson at Elyria, Ohio, October 14th, 
1846. Mr. Griffin and his estimable wife moved to 
Decatur from La Porte, Indiana, shortly after the 
close of the civil war. His residence property is the 
old Parks place, remodeled at a cost of $3,000, and a 
typical down-eastern home, surrounded by one of the 
prettiest lawns in the county. To this aged couple 
five children have been given : Charles, Frank, Earl, 
George, and Mary Frances, three of whom are dead. 
The two surviving members are Charles and Frank, 
Charles is a prominent insurance agent located at Lin- 
coln, and Frank is one of Burt county's foremost stock 
feeders and raisers. 

Cass Cramer. — Biorn in Springfield, Pennsylvania, 
January 27th, 1835. When 17 years old enlisted in 
the Union army. Wounded in a skirmish with Mos- 
ley, the rebel gorrilla, in the spring of '65 at Hamilton, 
Virginia. After the war located in Richardson county, 
Nebraska, and drove a freight team; interested in a 
cattle ranch in Knuckles county; cow-puncher on Lar- 
amie plains. Identified with Thurston county stock 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. I57 

men for many years; owns a good farm in Burt county. 
besides town property; a free born republican; refig-^ 
ion, liberal; and receives a pension of $8 per month. 
Still lives in single bliss, but not averse to the charms 
of woman. 

Calvin C. Bacon. — Born Henderson Harbor, New 
York, June nth, 1838; free thinker and independent 
democrat. For many years a sailor on the big lakes 
and the St. Lawrence River. By trade a plasterer 
and brick mason. 1869 crossed the Missouri at Omaha 
and receiving an invitation from his brother, 
came to Decatur, and one of the pleasing landmarks of 
the village. A poor man when he arrived in Burt 
county; now owns a good farm, besides some valuable 
town property. Had a narrow escape from death once 
by falling from a 14- foot barn and confined to his bed 
for several weeks. Although a bachelor, he is a lover 
of womankind, still prefers to live alone. 

E. D. Canfield. — Born in Essex county. New York, 
May 24th, 1828, near the famous fort which Ethan 
Allan with three men captured from the English in 
"the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental 
Congress." When 21 he went to Wakesha, Wiscon- 
sin, and clerked several years. Married Miss Sophie 
Root of that city, October 17th, 1852; and this union 
was blessed with two children: Clara Belle, Octo- 



158 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

ber 17th, 1855, and Willis H., January 29th, 1862. 
In 1858 Mr. Canfield and his wife emigrated to N^e- 
braska and made their home in Decatur; Mrs. Can- 
field the first school teacher in the village. All the 
money they had on hand when they arrived was a 
fifty-cent piece. Mr. Canfield taught school among 
the Yankton Sioux for three years and a half; i860 
he and Mrs. Root contracted to build twenty-five school 
houses for the Winnebagoes ; also entered into con- 
tracts with Mr. Fuller for the construction of some 
dwellings at Omaha agency. In the year of 1881, Mr. 
Canfield lost his wife through a serious illness, and 
on May 2nd, 1883, married Miss Cora E. Blue, one 
of Burt county's estimable young ladies; 1884 became 
a member of the Decatur bank; member of the village 
board one year; also served one term as justice of the 
peace — his onlyofiicial business to unite in marriage 
Mr. and Mrs. Daniel E. Morley. Mr. Canfield used 
to take pride in stating: "The Canfields represent a 
large family, but I never knew one to be in jail, and 
neither have I ever known one to be rich. This ven- 
erable pioneer passed away in the spring of 1901, and 
the remains interred in the village cemetery. He was 
a direct republican and a strong Episcopalian. His 
estate valued at about $12,000. 

Seymore T. Preston. — Born in DeKalb, New York, 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 1 59 

August 2$th, 1824; Episcopalian, and politics, repub- 
lican; owns a gootl farm and some town property. 
Taught school near the place of his birth and drove 
stage in the city of Boston. Located in Decatur 1858, 
and a pioneer plasterer. Married Miss Mary M. 
Brown of Dakota county, i860, and they have three 
children living: Emma, Ida, and Lettie, the latter 
who is now one of Decatur's popular milliners. 

Chas. A. Darling w^as born in La Porte, Lidiana, 
July 9th, 1857, and married Miss Laura Blackstone 
of Burt county. February 4th, 1882. at Tekamah. A 
prominent real estate and land agent at Lyons; taught 
school in Burt county in an early day. His wife's 
parents are old settlers, locating on the Blackbird in 
1859. While living here, Mr. Blackstone was raided 
by the Indians, taking half of his provisions, some 
spoons, and half of the top of a small cherry wood 
table. The table is still kept by the family as a relic. 
Mr. Darling attended the Decatur schools when a boy, 
and clerked for George Atwater. 

Pete Rafferty, from Wisconsin, came to this coun- 
try in '66; engaged in general work near Onawa for 
several years. [Married Miss Gray of Decatur. Farm- 
ed on the "Divide." near the Blackbird, and then 
bought out the Tom Whitelaw homestead for $300, 
his present home, situated a few miles west of town. 



l60 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. J 

4 

Peter Coyle and Jerry Carter planted the first trees I 
in the village of Decatur in 1857, hired by the town- j 
site company. A few of these landmarks yet remain, j 
splendid specimens of their specie (cottonwood) and ': 
the power of time. \ 

Silas P. Byram was born in Morristown, New I 
York, October 12th, 1824; and married Miss Sarah : 
Meacham of Newton, New Jersey, at Newark, Octo- ] 
ber 31st, 1850, and to this venerable couple the fol- ! 
lowing children have been born : Helen J., Henry D., j 
George M., Alice E., Evangeline N., and Eugene L., \ 
now well-to-do men and women, successful on life's ' 
highway. Mr. Byram was quite wealthy and upon his | 
death a few years ago the property was divided by ■ 
mutual agreement. ; 

James Ashley. — Born June 22nd, 1820, town of '-. 
Northwell, England; bid farewell to his native soil ; 
summer of 1852, and six weeks on the ocean, engag- ; 
ing passage on a sailing vessel. Lived in the city of '■ 
Brooklyn and Chicago until 1857, when he moved to | 
Dakota City and opened a blacksmith shop. On July | 
24th, 1859, li6 was united in marriage to Miss Garner I 
of Dakota county, and to them have been born the fol- 1 
lowing children : John, George, Jennie, Fred and '. 
Charles. George died August ist, 1880, of inflamma- ■ 
t(3ry rheumatism; Fred is a prosperous hardware mer- ' 



RKMIXISCEXCES OF X iillRASKA. l6l 

chant of Decatur; Charles, one of Decatur's popular 
mercantile dealers, and John is now serving his sec- 
ond term as treasurer oi Burt county, a man who has 
won the h.juor and esteem of his associates and 
friends. Jennie married Mr. Charles Alaryott of Pen- 
der, a wel-to-d'i and leading lumber merchant of that 
city. Mrs. Ashley laughingly tells it, the first time 
she met her husband was at a Methodist church meet- 
ing in a country school house in Dakota county, and 
incjuired C'f a lady actiuaintance, "Who was that daiidy 
well-dressed little fellow who sat in front of me to- 
night?" "Why, don't you know?" her friend ex- 
claimed, "why, that's Jim Ashley, the little English- 
man, and 1 'Ur new village blacksmith up 1 3 Logan." 
It was surely love at first sight, for Mr. Ashley made 
similar inquiries in regard to Miss Garner; tlie young 
couple soon became acquainted, which ended in a very 
happy marriage. Mr. Ashley located i6o acres on 
the river llat, and a man from Omaha, who had the 
reputation of being a tough character, threatened to 
shoot the young blacksmith if he did not vacate the 
premises. But the plucky Englishman was not so 
easily frightened. Instead of going, he rsmainea. 
made some improvements, built a house, proved up 
and sold out for $800. Through the influence of 
Agent George B. Graft, i860, Mr. Ashley received his 

11 



1 62 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

appointment as g-overnment blacksmith for the Oma- 
has; 1864 he moved to Decatur and bought a half in- 
terest in his brother R'jbert's blacksmith sh p; later 
moved back to the agency, remaining seven years ; last 
two as post trader. In the summer of '74 purchased 
Warner's hardware store at Decatur and moved his 
family down, and the house he lives in now was l.uiU 
by Adam Reems, the first saw mill man of Decatur. 
and a fifty-niner. Mr. Ashley's oldest boy, John, was 
the first white boy born on the reservation, and Jennie 
Bent, daughter of Rev. Bent, superintendent of the 
Omaha mission in i860, the first white girl. Mr. Ash- 
ley has filled most of the local ofiices pertaining to 
the village of Decatur, without his seeking, and a very 
quiet, unpretentious man, who is beloved by his neigh- 
bors for his kindness and benevolence. 

Rev. Charles Cross was born in Genesee county. 
New York, March 19th, 1822; educated for the min- 
istry and ordained at Greencastle, Indiana, 1854. 
Rev. Cross was married to Miss Wealthy Cross at 
Pulaski, N. Y., Oct. 22, 1842; and this loving O'm- 
panion was taken from him by the angel of 
death on April 3d, 189 1, at Herman, Neb. 
Graduate of Allegheny College, IMeadville, Pennsyl- 
vania. President McKinley was a graduate of this 
collesre; also Doctor Edward Sears of Decatur. Rev. 



REMINISCENCES OF NEIiRASKA. 163 

Cross was stationed at such places as Petersburg, 
Washington, and New Albany, some of the best ap- 
pointments in the conference. Came to Nebraska in 
1 87 1, locating near Herman, one year before the in- 
corporation of that town. Superintendent of Wash- 
ington county from '73 to 'yj', and solemnized more 
marriages and preached more funeral sermons than 
any other minister in the county. Also officiated at 
the funeral of Henry Fontenelle, a noted pioneer of 
Nebraska. On September 22nd, 1894. Rev. Cross 
was united in marriage to Mrs. Jane Clough, a pioneer 
widow lady of Burt county. Mrs. Clough was born 
in Victor, Ontario county, New York, March 26th 
1829, and located at Golden Springs, Nebraska, in 
1866. Mr. Cross has retired from active service in 
the church; broad in his views and beloved by his 
neighbors. He and his estimable wife are comfortably 
located in Decatur, and the owners of a very pleasant 
and inviting little fireside. 

James E. Boyd was born in the county of Tyrone, 
Ireland; ex-governor of Nebraska, and former mayor 
of Omaha, and became a resident of this city in 1856, 
applying himself to the carpenter's profession; his 
brother, John M., was a co-worker. Interested in 
stock raising for several years near Gibbons, Ne- 
Draska, then an open prairie; proprietor of a merchap- 



164 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

dise store at Kearney City; and 1866 accepted grad- 
ing contracts from the Union Pacific; 1868 returned 
to Omaha; elected a member of the first state legisla- 
ture, while a resident of Buffalo county. Promoter of 
Omaha's city gas works; and in the winter of 1869 
organized the Omaha and Northwestern and, its first 
president, and the road built to Blair. Extensively ih- 
terested in cattle ranches out west; one of the founders 
of the Central National Bank of Omaha, 1870, and 
1880 elected a member of the board of aldermen. Mr. 
Boyd was a resident of Kanesville, just across the 
river, for several years previous to his location in 
Omaha. 

J. J. Brown, from New York, located in the city 
of Omaha in the spring of 1856 and opened a mer- 
chandise store, and in after years established himself 
in the wholesale business. A wide-awake citizen and 
always took a prominent part in public enterprises ben- 
oficial to the city. 

Samuel R. Brown, a native of Ohio, identified hhn- 
self with the city of Omaha in 1854, and grew up with 
the village. Engaged in mining a few years m Col- 
orado. A pioneer who was a jack of all trades in an 
early day; freighting across the plains, carpentering, 
store keeper, land dealer, miner and banker; and suf- 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 1 65 

fered many hardships in his struggles for success and 
wealth. 

James T. Allen, a young man from Pontiac. ]\Iich- 
igan; 1856 came to Bellevue and opened a hcitel. flie 
largest in the territory at that time; 1858 moved to 
Omaha and conducted the Herndon House f^r several 
years; 1866 emigrated to Ji-desburg and established a 
railroad eating house. Later superintendent of tree 
culture for Union Pacific; prominent pioneer of Ne- 
braska. 

James H. Baldwin, a New York boy, located in 
Omaha in 1856; employed by the government shortly 
after his arrival to build bridges between Omaha and 
Running Water; i860 went to Colorado and engaged 
in the mining business, and after three years' experi- 
ence, returned to his old home and interested himself 
in the wood industry, and emerged into a professional 
house-mover, also dealing in real estate. 

Jirah P. Page. — Born in Herkimer county, New 
York, March ist, 1847; came to Decatur the night be- 
fore the morning the Brown Hotel burned to the 
ground. Carpenter by trade; married Miss Mary C. 
Moore, a native of Troy, Ohio, April i6th, 1867, at 
the city of Olena, Ohio; father of five living children, 
Ida, Ada, Maud, Lewis, and Lyle. Enlisted in the 
Union army when a mere boy. At one time tleputy 



l66 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

U. S. marshal, member of village board, and has held 
other offices. Mr. and Mrs. Page are veteran restau- 
ranteurs of Decatur, having been engaged in this busi- 
ness for over twenty years. 

Dr. Louis Phillip Ross, a native of Newton, W^est 
Virginia, born June 27, 1857, and married Miss Clara 
Wolf, of same state, May 30th, 1878. Graduate of 
medicine, Louisville Medical College, Louisville, Ken- 
tucky; self-made man, and now prominent doctor of 
Burt county. Has filled several prominent official 
medical appointments; taught school eleven years in 
the states of Kansas, Minnesota, and West Virginia, 
prior to his study of medicine. Li politics a direct 
democrat and a recognized leader in his party. Dr. 
Ross has a fine home and his family enjoy life. 

Byron L. Wilder was born in Sandy Creek, New 
York, August 12th, 1841; Miss Chloe Snyder, Sandy 
Creek, same state, August 9, 1844. They were mar- 
ried in Sandy Creek by Rev. C. L. Dunning, Febru- 
ary 22, 1871; and to them have been born four chil- 
dren, Maud, March, 1872; Stanton, February 28th, 
1876; Edward, February 2nd, 1878, and James, April 
19, 1880. Mr. Wilder came to Decatur March 7, 
1881; occupation, farmer; member Methodist church, 
and politics, republican. Died April 17, 1890. His 



REMIXISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 1 67 

widow owns one residence and fourteen lots and values 
personal property at $3,000. 

Charles O. Freeman was born in Kalamazoo coun- 
ty, Michisj;an, September 4th, ?867; and when six 
months old his parents moved to Nebraska, their final 
home, one mile northeast of Craig. Herded cattle in 
his young days; then engaged in the poultry business; 
and when aljout 20 went on the road as a peddler. 
Came to Decatur in 1893, with one trunk full of 
goods — now owns one of the largest general stores 
in the town. He is the seventh son of twelve children. 
Married ]Miss Mina Tallman of Scott county, Iowa, 
and to them have been born one girl, December i8th, 
1901. 

John Rasch, a German, born on the banks of the 
River Rhine, a stove moulder by trade; fought for the 
Union cause in the civil war, and entered upon a sol- 
dier's claim in Burt county in 1872; mustered out of 
army at Madison, Wisconsin, and receives a pension 
of $6 a month. 

W. S. Page, a New Yorker by birth, arrived in 
Decatur March ist, 1871; village blacksmith; also 
land agent; homesteaded 160 acres of land; and jus- 
tice of the peace for twelve years successfully. An 
ardent spiritualist. Died January 5th, 1895. 

Levi L. Darling is a native of Chesterfield, Mass., 



1 68 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

nacl made his debut in Decatur 1866. A prominent 
factor in its youthful history; now hves in Alberta, 
Canada. A farmer, with broad religion, but strong 
populist. His sons and daughters are wel-to-do peo- 
ple of the county. 

Hon. Robt. W. Furnas was born in Miami county, 
Ohio, and in his youth learned the art of printing, 
and when 23 years old, editor of the "Times," Troy. 
Ohio. In March, 1856, located in Brown ville, Ne- 
braska, his present home, and established the "Ne- 
braska Advertiser." Elected to Territorial legisla- 
ture, and served one year as clerk. When the civil war 
broke out enlisted in Union army and commissioned 
by President Lincoln as colonel, and organized an 
Indian brigade of three regiments; and in Gen. Sully's 
expedition against the Sioux. 1867 he was appointed 
U. S. Indian agent for the Omahas, accomplishing 
much good for this tribe, learning them the rudi- 
mentary principles of agriculture; 1872 he was elected 
governor of Nebraska by the republican party. Mr. 
Furnas has occupied all of the high offices of the state 
and eminent in secret societies. To him belongs the 
honor of having organized the first school board in 
the Territory of Nebraska, and of having presided 
over the first educational convention. He has been an 
active advocate of tree culture and has accomplished 



REMINISCENCES OF NEBRASKA. 169 

much good in this (Hrection for Nebraska, converting 
barren prairies into vahiable tracts of stately forests. 
Mr. Furnas married Miss Mary McComas of Cin- 
cinnati, in 1845, '^"^l this union was blessed with live 
children. In recent years he lost his wife and now has 
taken another estimable companion. This pioneer's life 
is made up of good deeds, and for these acts of merit 
and unselfishness the commonwealth has crowned its 
leader with the civic wreath of public honor. 

Sam Orchard of Omaha is a native of Washington 
county, Indiana, and located in Nebraska in 1855. He 
is one of the oldest living pioneers of the state; the 
first man to import potatoes out of Nebraska, a boat- 
load billed for St. Louis, paying 25 cents a bushel for 
them — and made some money in the speculation. On 
the second shipment, however, he lost money and 
Orchard quit the business disgusted. In an early day 
Omaha's leading carpet and furniture dealer; during 
the rebellion, assistant provost marshal, also surveyor 
of customs; in 'y2 resigned latter charge to accept 
ofifice of assistant postmaster, acting in this capacity 
untih 1877. Married Miss Crawford of Omaha, 1865, 
and this union was blessed with two children, Charles 
C. and Mabel G. Mr. Orchard has been deeply af- 
flicted, having lost the sweet companionship of a fov- 
ing wife and the devoted affection of a charmiiig 



170 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

daughter and a promising- son. Mr. Orchard malces 
his home at the Karbach hotel in Omaha; a man of 
kindly disposition, beloved by all who know him, and 
a typical pioneer of Nebraska. Although time has 
turned his hair to gray and death has robbed him of 
his brightest jewels, his faith in a Divine Providence 
is inviolable, and he lives in the daily walks of his life 
a patient and God-loving man, a true representative of 
the noble characters who made it possible for Ne- 
braska to become the glorious and prosperous state 
she is today. 

A second cousin to Logan Fontenelle, the historical 
leader of the Omaha Indians, the author's prerogative 
to record a truthful sketch of this man ought to be 
unquestionable. Mere conjecture or idle imagination 
have been the sources of information used by many 
writers in regard to his life and tragic death and ac- 
curate data up to this time has not been presented. 
Logan Fontenelle was a Nebraska boy by birth, born 
near the little village of Bellevue in the year 1821; 
and instructed in the rudiments of education by Father 
De Smit at Kansas City; a small portion of his youth 
was passed in St. Louis, and he crossed the plains with 
his father, locating at Fort Laramie, where Mr. Fon- 
tenelle conducted a trader's post. But most of Logan's 
boyhood was spent in Bellevue, taking advan- 



REMINISCEXCES OF NEBRASKA. 171 

tage of the mission schools, and growing up into man's 
estate among the Indians; a favorite with them, and 
upon maturity, for his bravery and daring feats, 
elected chief of the Omahas. Logan Fontenelle was 
a half-breed; his father a Frenchman and his mother 
an Indian woman. In stature he was slightly below 
the medium, straight as an arrow, dark piercing eyes, 
and long straight black hair; courteous and polished 
in society, among his own people he was a true Indian, 
alert and generous to a fault; to an enemy he was re- 
lentless as he was unforgiving, and led his warriors 
to many a successful battle against the unconquerable 
Sioux — an inevitable foe. He was an ardent advo- 
cate for peace and his intervention in behalf of the 
whites for the settlement of this country was an m- 
fluence that is deserving of the highest of human re- 
wards. The incidents which brought about his prema- 
ture death may be related as follows: In the spring 
of 1855, Logan with a band of warriors, some women 
and children, went up in the valley of the Elkhorn to 
provide meat for the coming summer. Continuous at- 
tacks from the Sioux, however, annoyed the hunting 
party to such an extent, it became discouraged and 
turned its steps homeward. When nearing the Elk- 
horn, and presuming themselves safe beyond further 
attack. L-gan and a chosen few went in the advance 



172 STORY OF AN OLD TOWN. 

ar.d gave chase to a herd of elk they scared up, and 
uncqnsciously ahnost rode into the arms of a roving 
band of Sioux. A fight ensued immediately, but the 
Omahas, much weaker in numbers, sought protection 
in flight. Logan's scalp had long been coveted by tne 
Sioux — for he was considered a great warrior — and 
they gave preference to his trail, and followed close 
in the chase. Fontenelle headed his faithful pony 
toward the Elkhorn, and would have escaped but in 
crossing the stream his animal mired in the quicksand 
and mud, and before he could extricate himself the 
enemy was upon the bank. Logan made a brave fight, 
selling his life dearly — killing five of the Sioux before 
he fell from his horse. The remaining Dakotahs then 
detached his scalp — a trophy of high honor — and rode 
away — just as reinforcements from the Omahas came 
up. Fontenelle's body was taken to Bellevue, where 
he was buried by the side of his father, amid much 
ostentation and elaborate pageantry, participated in 
by the entire tribe. His untimely death was a deep 
loss to the Omahas, for he had lived he would have 
accomplished much good for his people. 

Li the summer of 1870 a hunting party of Omahas 
went dow-n on the Smokyhill, in Kansas, but game was 
scarce, and had it not been for the kindness and good 
offices of friendly whites, the Lidians would have per- 



KKMIXISCEXCi:S OF X KliRASKA. 173 

ished, and as it was, did, in a small degree, suffer the 
pangs of hunger. This was their last hunt on the 
once great plains of the west, and realizing the hope- 
lessness of depending on wild meat secured in the 
chase, f^r a subsistence, it was thus the child of na- 
ture abandoned the field and his favorite sport, 
thrc ugh dire necessity, to cope in the struggle of life. 
with artifice; and became a diligent and progressive 
tiller of the soil. Fifty years ago the Omaha reserva- 
tion was a vast area of rolling prairie; its inhabitants, 
the North American Indians; today the reservation is 
known as Thurston county; and the North American 
Indian yet its residents. But what a transformation. 
Now he ranks in the commonwealth as a citizen; votes 
at the election booth, and pays his personal taxes. On 
the Sabbath he attends Christian service, and in the 
week days his children will be found at school — apt 
and laborious pupils. "Por his neighbor, is the white- 
man, and his once wild reservation, is now dotted with 
thriving churches, and crowded citadels of education; 
the whole land thickly populated with a prosperous 
and happy people. 

[THE END.] 




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